Haruhiko Kuroda said the explosion in food prices posed a threat to macroeconomic stability and raised the cost of food subsidies and current account deficits in food-importing countries.
"Food prices can become a very sensitive economic and political issue," he told an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of finance ministers, calling for safety nets to help the poor, reforms to agriculture and measures to increase productivity.
Despite relatively robust growth, he said, Asia faces downside risks
