ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia will import 150,000 tonnes of wheat to stabilise grain prices amid rising world commodity costs, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Higher prices for staple foods and fuel have hit developing nations hard as government of some food-growing countries impose export curbs because of worries about domestic shortages.

“The government has signed an agreement to import 1.5 million quintals (150,000 tonnes) of wheat within the next one and half months to stabilise food grain prices,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament.

“Food grain price stability was not achieved in some communities due to illegal practices by traders operating outside the law,” he said.

The leader of sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous country did not say where the grain would come from nor how much it would cost.

The Ministry of Finance says inflation stands at 19 percent, mostly due to high petrol prices.

Meles said the government will take action against black market operators. Last week, police arrested 45 traders.

Food shortages are worse in sub-Saharan Africa because per capita production has fallen in recent years. Drought-prone Ethiopia was one of the most-affected African countries.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday that Ethiopia should tap low-interest loans or grants to help it deal with rising food prices.

A U.S.-funded early warning system, FEWSNET, has said that up to nine million Ethiopians may need food assistance in 2008 due to drought.

(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse, editing by Jack Kimball and Peter Blackburn)

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