Economist Mohamed El-Erian: It’ll Be ‘Quite a Few Months for Us to Feel Less Pain’ at Supermarket

On Monday’s broadcast of ABC’s “GMA3,” economist and President of Queens’ College Dr. Mohamed El-Erian stated that the “really painful” food price inflation will improve, but it will “take quite a few months for us to feel less pain when we are at the supermarket.”

Co-host Amy Robach asked, “[W]e still see those food prices at the grocery store continue to be sky-high, much higher than they’ve been before. What will the relief be? What will that look like? When can we expect to see that on the grocery store aisles?”

El-Erian answered, “So, Amy, first, you’re absolutely right. It is really painful. Food prices went up by another 1.1% last month. They’re now up 11% in the last year. It hits people’s pocketbook[s] particularly hard. And you can see the pain out there. Simply go to any food bank and look at the lines, they’re almost as long as what we had during the pandemic. So, it is a real issue. Look, the supply side is getting better, commodity prices have come down, supply chains are improving. So, food inflation will get better, but it’s not going to be immediate. It’s going to take quite a few months for us to feel less pain when we are at the supermarket.”

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