Agricultural subsidies around the world are a waste of hundreds of billions of dollars and unaffordable in the wake of the global financial crisis, New Zealand's prime minister said Friday. Speaking at a business forum in Vladivostok ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit, John Key said cutting farming subsidies --which New Zealand eliminated in the 1980s -- would promote economic growth. "Imagine the benefits of freeing up the hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded subsidies which are poured into agriculture, fisheries and a number of other industries," Key said.

World cannot afford farming subsidies. (2012, September 8). Manila Bulletin, p. B-3.