World food prices hit new peak

Global food prices have reached new highs amid a warning that oil price surges could trigger further increases.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said its food price index was up 2.2% last month, the highest in real and nominal terms since the agency started monitoring prices in 1990.

It was also the eighth consecutive month that food prices had risen.

In January, the index had already registered a peak.

Skyrocketing food prices have been among the triggers for protests in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere and raised fears of a repeat of the food price crises in 2007 and 2008.

Global oil prices have spiked on concerns about the potential impact of supply disruptions from Libya.