Cabinet committee approves 50,000 tonnes of rice import.

The government has taken an initiative to accelerate rice imports to strengthen the buffer stock of food grains and to arrest the upward trend of the staple’s price.

At a meeting yesterday of the cabinet committee on purchase, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed directed the relevant ministries to move faster with their processes for rice import without further delay.

The meeting approved the import of 50,000 tonnes of rice for $458.84 per tonne from an Indian company named M/S Bagadiya Brothers.

“Even at the meeting, I have asked them to import rice immediately from wherever they can to strengthen the buffer stock of food grain,” he told reporters after the meeting at the secretariat.

About the current price of essentials, Salehuddin said: “The price of a specific item has increased while the prices of other items are stable.”

The government will soon introduce a special Open Market Sales (OMS) programme with the view to bringing relief to fixed and low-income people struggling with inflation.

Rice prices have surged in the last two weeks despite the arrival of new Aman season rice. The price of all varieties of rice increased yesterday, according to data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

The price of coarse rice, which was Tk 50 to Tk 55 a kilogram a month ago, was Tk 54 to 58 yesterday, meaning the rice price increased 6.67 percent in the last month. It increased more than 14 percent in the last year, according to data from TCB.

Asked about the rice price increase, Ahmed said: “This is a transition time as paddy harvesting is going on and rice is entering different markets from the farmers. There is no problem on the supply side but there could be some problem in the supply chain. We are monitoring the market so that the difference between production cost and consumer level cost is not too much.”

The government took the initiative to import food grain after the flood in August. As of Monday, 24,720 tonnes of rice was imported at the government level and 1.07 lakh tonnes at the private level.

The total stock of foodgrain was 12.22 lakh tonnes as of Monday, of which rice was 7.99 lakh tonnes.

Salehuddin urged the common people to be patient.

“Once, the price of onion hit Tk 200 per kg. Now, it is Tk 40 per kg. We also have to think about the farmers,” he added.

Besides, at another meeting with rice traders, Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin said the government is easing  the rules for importing rice.

He made the remark in response to rice traders’ demand for easing the rules of margin for opening letters of credit for rice import, according to a commerce ministry press release.

Published Date: January 8, 2025