Ahead Of G8 Meeting Ministers, Oxfam International Acknowledge Problems From Global Price Hikes

Osaka, Japan (AHN) - A preliminary statement from Group of Eight finance ministers ahead of a meeting with central bank governors says the organization will acknowledge that rising commodity prices represent a serious inflationary threat to the world economy.

Oxfam International, a global coalition of non-government organizations fighting poverty and injustice, issued a report and statement on the problem of global poverty and what the rich G8 nations should do about it on Friday.

"Half-way towards the Millennium Development Goals deadline, instead of coasting to victory the world is staring at defeat," Oxfam's report author Max Lawson said in a statement.

"These are the same ministers who spent more than a trillion dollars in six months to bail out their own banks, but they cannot find a fraction of that to save millions of lives. With an economic recession looming, they must not make the poor pay the price by reneging on their aid promises," he said.

The G8 is meeting to discuss development in Africa, the food crisis and other issues.

Strong economic growth in the west in recent years has been fueled by low inflation and rising prices for food and fuel threaten to boost inflation rates and slow that growth and is putting pressure on credit markets to contract.

With crude oil prices just under a record $140 per barrel, six times higher than in 2002, the G8 is set to ask the International Monetary Fund to investigate movements on the commodity exchanges to determine if commodity futures speculators are driving crude prices up.

Soaring fuel prices are another factor in driving food prices up and those problems, along with global warming, threaten to increase global poverty and undermine the credibility of the G8 ministers from rich nations if they are unable to meet their promises to supply aid.

The price hikes mean that food for aid to poor countries costs more money, meaning donor countries must either increase the amount of money they allocate for aid, or face feeding fewer people, which would be reneging on their pledges to help the poor.

Oxfam International has said that the top priority for the G8 ministers should be to meet an estimated $30 billion shortfall in overseas aid, because it it doesn't about five million people could die.