THE BUSINESS WEEK

摘要

Central bankers spooked by costly oil have a new bugaboo: rain falling in the wrong breadbaskets (soppy Iowa instead of parched Australia). On June 18 severe floods in the Midwest sent corn for July delivery to $7.46 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, a record for the contract. And the oil-food double whammy is putting pressure on prices all over. Eurostat announced on June 16 that inflation in the 15-nation euro zone hit 3.7% for the year ended in May, raising the likelihood that the European Central Bank will raise its key short-term rate in July.