One economics risk analyst said that rising food and fuel costs pose serious problems for emerging market economies. He cited the protests currently in Kazakhstan that were sparked by fuel hikes.

“A lot of countries are facing a challenge of rising food and fuel prices, particularly, since it is also dovetailing with supply chain restrictions and a variety of other issues,” said Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights, a research firm. 

“The challenge is that a number of emerging markets that are already struggling to grow even before the pandemic and throughout it… you’re seeing fiscal tightening and monetary tightening at the same time,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk box Asia” on Friday.

Ziemba observed that countries across the region struggle to share their wealth.

Astana is a significant energy producer.

“Even for [a] country like Kazakhstan, that’s a commodity exporter… they really have struggled to distribute some of that income,” Ziemba explained. 

Unrest erupted after the government of Kazakhstan announced that it would lift the price cap for liquefied petroleum gases, which are used in Central Asia as an alternative fuel. LPG’s prices increased by two-thirds after the announcement of Kazakhstan’s government.

The price cap was restored by the government in an effort to placate the public. However, the protests have not stopped and are continuing with a political tone.

Ziemba underlined that Kazakhstan, is one of a number of oil producing countries that had been reluctant until recently to pass on higher prices to their population. But the “way they did it was very ham-handed in a sense,” she said, adding the government hasn’t really addressed some of the other economic grievances.

But it’s more than fuel prices and food. She noted that there are other problems and challenges to economic welfare, even though some sectors of the government or elite are performing really well.

— Natasha Turak from CNBC contributed to this article