The recent increases in the cost of petrol and food worldwide are due to a combination of factors including a shift in assets and speculation activities, former University Malaya economics professor Dr Jomo Kwarme Sundaram said.

"In the recent months since the financial crisis in August last year, there has been a flight in securities.

"People are no longer holding many of the old financial assets and they have moved their assets to those based on material goods, especially metals and other minerals like oil," said the current United Nations assistant secretary-general for economics.