The government will import at least 10 lakh tonnes of rice from different countries to boost the food grain reserve amid growing concerns over the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision came at a time when prices of the staple keep soaring in both retail and wholesale markets and the food grain reserve has dwindled to seven lakh tonnes, almost half of the reserve in the same time last year.
Food Secretary Nazmanara Khanum said the country does not have much shortage of rice against demand.
"But we have decided to increase rice import at government level, keeping the second wave of Covid-19 in mind, because the government may have to go for food intervention [distributing food free of cost or at reduced price]," she told The Daily Star yesterday.
"Till now, we have a target to import 10 lakh tonnes of rice at government level. If necessary, we will import more. Apart from this, we will collect paddy from farmers if they are willing to sell," the secretary said when this paper contacted her after the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved a proposal to import 50,000 tonnes of rice from an Indian company.
As per the proposal, PK Agri Link Private Ltd will provide the rice at Tk 33.72 per kg.
Bangladesh imported only 4,000 tonnes of rice in the last fiscal year, according to the food ministry documents.
The development came two days after the food ministry, following the approval of the prime minister, on Monday wrote to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to allow the private sector to import rice at 25 percent duty to stabilise the rice market.
Currently, an importer has to pay 62.5 percent duty to import rice. However, rice importers will have to apply to the food ministry with all necessary documents to avail the reduced duty.
The NBR will issue a circular in this regard soon and none would be allowed to import rice at this reduced rate without government approval, the food secretary said.
Asked how much rice they would allow the private sector to import, the food secretary said, "There is no ceiling here. We will allow them [private sector] until the rice price comes down to tolerable levels and the farmers get a reasonable price for their products."
However, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque earlier this week said the government will not allow import of more than six lakh tonnes of rice by the private sector to safeguard the interests of farmers.
Apart from the 50,000 tonnes, the purchase committee earlier approved another proposal of procuring 1 lakh tonnes of rice, while the government will collect another 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice from India under the government-to-government initiative.
These moves came as prices of rice have kept soaring in both retail and wholesale markets.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), price of per kg coarse rice was Tk 46 yesterday, which is 47.69 percent higher than the price of the same rice on December 30 last year.
The price of fine and medium rice also saw a rise between 20 and 25 percent compared to the price of December 30 last year, according to the TCB.
The food grain reserve was 7.39 lakh tonnes -- 5.37 lakh tonnes of rice and 2.02 lakh tonnes of wheat -- on Sunday, while the reserve of food grain was 13.83 lakh tonnes on the same date last year, according to the food ministry.
The government's failure to attain its Boro procurement target and increased distribution of cereal among people affected by the pandemic and recurring floods are blamed for this situation.
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