Page 8 - Policy Economic Report - February 2023

Policy and Economic Report:
Oil & Gas Market

• The energy and food prices receded amid a deteriorating global outlook for economic growth. In
particular, Brent crude oil prices increased from about $78 per barrel at the beginning of 2022 to
a peak of $130 per barrel in June, before declining to around $85 per barrel in late November. In
Europe, natural gas prices surged from about $5 per million British thermal units (Btu) before the
pandemic to $99 per million Btu on 26 August 2022, before dropping to $35 per million Btu in
November.

• The food commodity price index of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) rose steeply during March and May 2022. Despite some easing afterwards, food prices
have remained close to the record highs experienced during the 2008–2011 global food crisis.

Figure- Food Commodity price index

• Since late 2021, many central banks have been raising interest rates in quick succession to bring
inflation under control and anchor inflation expectations. This shift towards tighter monetary
policy is exceptionally broad-based; over 85 % of central banks worldwide increased interest rates
in 2022.9 The main exceptions to this trend are the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of Japan

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