The Straits Time
UPDATED
MAY 5, 2023, 8:55 AM SGT
MILAN – Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso called on Thursday for a crisis meeting over the price of pasta, the country’s favourite staple, after it jumped by more than double the national inflation rate.
Mr Urso’s ministry said the cost of spaghetti and other pasta products rose year on year by 17.5 per cent in March despite a drop in wheat prices. In that month, Italian European Union-harmonised consumer prices rose overall by 8.1 per cent.
The crisis talks will be chaired by a government-appointed watchdog on inflation on May 11, and will mark the first meeting of a new committee set up to monitor unusual price movements, the ministry said.