DHAKA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh has been put by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on the list of 37 countries facing food crisis and requiring external assistance, local newspaper The Daily Star reported Wednesday.

    According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), food price inflation was spiraling up by over 11 percent every month from July to October this year. In the urban areas, this inflation rate was over 12 percent.

    According to the latest data of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), prices of most of the essential food items shot up by 6 percent to 116 percent over the last one year. Of them, price of the main essential item rice rose by 40 to 50 percent.

    The FAO in a press release urged the governments and the international community to take immediate measures to help the poor countries hit hard by dramatic food price increases.

    The FAO noted that currently 37 countries are facing food crises due to conflicts and disasters.

    According to Bangladesh government's estimates, the cyclone and two consecutive floods this year have caused a shortfall of 1.4 million tons of rice.

    Bangladesh usually imports around 2 million to 24 million tons of food grains a year. Because of the shortfall this year, the import will hover around 3.5 million tons.

    And due to the global scarcity of food and lack of interest of exporting countries, Bangladesh is also facing problems with import. The government has decided to import food at higher prices.

    This means that food prices will continue to rise in the coming months, the newspaper said.