WASHINGTON (AFP) — Developing countries have benefited greatly from higher commodity prices in past years and chalked up unparalleled growth rates above six percent, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday.

Paulson, addressing the World Bank spring meeting, said that despite the risks associated with the US economic slowdown, “developing countries are on track to record their sixth consecutive year of average growth in excess of six percent, an accomplishment unparalleled in recent history.”

Speaking against a backdrop of growing concern over sharp rises in food costs for the poor, Paulson said the gains in commodity prices had produced large beneficial shifts in the terms of trade for many developing countries.

For these countries, it “is essential to translate this boom into the foundations for higher sustainable growth,” he said.

On the other hand, for those that have suffered as a result of soaring commodity prices, such as for oil, Paulson said they “may need to implement better energy demand policies and targeted safety net programs.”

Such countries should also “resist the temptation of price controls and consumption subsidies that are generally not effective and efficient methods of protecting vulnerable groups.”

Rising commodity prices, especially for food, were put in the spotlight here Saturday when the head of the International Monetary Fund warned they could lead to conflict if not tackled.

“Food prices, if they go on like they are doing today … the consequences will be terrible,” IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

“As we know, learning from the past, those kind of questions sometimes end in war,” he warned.

Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank — whose mission is to promote development and so reduce poverty — called earlier this month for a ‘New Deal’ on food, similar in scope to a 1930s program under US president Franklin D. Roosevelt that tackled the problems of the Great Depression.

Skyrocketing prices of rice, wheat, corn, cooking oil, milk and other foodstuffs come against a backdrop of a spreading global financial crisis, a US economy teetering on recession and currency market imbalances.

In recent months, rising food costs have lead to violent protests in Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Madagascar, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in the past month.

Paulson did not refer directly to these issues in his address but noted that “a key challenge for the international financial institutions is to assist those countries whose growth is lagging.”

Trade helps economic growth and so “trade reforms are critical means to lifting people out of poverty,” he said, referring to ongoing international liberalization talks.