Cost of rice import decreasing

To alleviate the country’s rice crisis, the Cabinet Committee on Procurement last week approved the import of 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati cooked rice from PK AgriLink Pvt Ltd of India at a cost of Tk 177,10,90,400. Expenditure on importing the same amount of rice was approved at Tk 176 crore 38 lakh 40 thousand yesterday. As a result, the cost of importing rice from the international market has been reduced by about Tk 72.50 lakh per week.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Virtual Economic Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. There, the Food Department under the Ministry of Food has approved the purchase of 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati boiled rice from Messrs. Bagadia Brothers Pvt. Ltd. of India at a cost of Tk 176 crore 38 lakhs 40 thousand crore. That was more than last week.

Sunbd/NJ