Surging rice prices raise spectre of Asian food scare

SYDNEY – Rising food prices are likely to prove an additional concern for central bankers trying to subdue inflation as the cost of rice — a staple food in Asia — surges the most since 2008, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.

“The memory of the 2008 Asian food price scare sits deep,” economists led by Frederic Neumann said in a research note on Friday. “Back then, rising rice…