Odžić: The country must think about the introduction of commodity reserves

As a country, at a time when many economic experts are announcing that we are facing a major food crisis, much bigger than the one in 2008, we must think about the introduction of commodity reserves, said Petar Odžić, a member of the Presidency of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

"This is supported by the fact that our country is highly dependent on imports, and therefore the price and availability of products depend on the global factor. As we can see in the previous months, the availability of products is currently at a satisfactory level, but the global market has also unrealistically high price growth for our standard," says Ožić, as stated in the SDP press release.

He believes that "commodity reserves are mainly in the function of saving producers and the market".

"They have a role to calm the market, to mitigate price shocks and shocks in supply, as well as to maintain the guaranteed prices of some goods. These are stocks of goods that ensure supply and stability on the market in cases of emergency, war or market disturbances," he explains. Odžić.

As he says, "they usually consist of basic agricultural and food products, meat, industrial products, medicines and sanitary materials, raw materials and reproduction material for these products, and as far as possible, it is not bad to have fuel stocks".

"Over 20 countries in the world have limited or completely canceled the export of the most important foodstuffs. Among them, Argentina is leading, which is the leading producer of soybean oil and corn, and among the three largest producers of wheat. In addition to Argentina, we could see that in May India also gave up export of essential foodstuffs, a country that could have stabilized the markets in Europe, affected by the war crisis in Ukraine. Droughts around the world that can affect yields are not helping either," Odžić said.

He believes that "all these indicators clearly indicate that the existence of commodity reserves in these situations is advisable, in order to maintain the availability of products and regulate the price policy".

"The conclusion is that even when there is no global crisis, the existence of commodity reserves has a positive effect, because it provides security in supply and the possibility of market regulation, regardless of global events," Odžić believes.