Bangladesh’s rice production may decline in marketing year (MY) 2022-23, which began in May, as severe floods damaged pre-monsoon crop Aus in the north and northeastern regions during planting, said a USDA report released on Monday. 

Middlemen control the rice market and they are the ones who are to blame for the fall in prices, noted economist and banker Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled said yesterday.

The government has decided to reduce the duty on rice imports by more than half the existing rate to encourage the private sector to

Rice import by the private sector has dropped to a four-year low at a time when its prices have shot up in the domestic market. Traders imported only 1.2 lakh tonnes of rice till mid-June in the current fiscal year against 2.56 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal year.