The government has taken the decision to import another 50,000 tons of rice to improve Bangladesh’s food stock.
In a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Ministry of Food to import the rice through the Dubai-based firm M/S Phoenix Global DMCC.
Government took the decision to import the rice after the recent floods which affected the crop production and reserves.
Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division Mostafizur Rahman said the rice will cost Tk 178.54 crore. The price will range from $472 to $499.80 a ton and all it will be imported.
The Directorate of Food data shows the stock of Bangladesh’s staple food stood at 1,62,000 tons on July 12, which later increased to 1,77,000 tons on July 17.
The government wants to keep a stock of more than 180,000 tons to keep the prices stable in the local retail market.
The government decided to import 2,50,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and the import was allowed without any tender by the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement.
Afterwards, the rice import duty was decreased to 10% from 28%.
Bangladesh will import 250,000 tons of rice from Vietnam. 50,000 tons will cost Tk 195.5 crore at a rate of $470 per tons and the remaining 200,000 tons will be bought at a total cost of Tk713.88 crore, at rate of $430 per ton.
A total of 47,000 tons of rice reached Bangladesh already in two shipments, while the government expects the third shipment to reach on July 22.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq