The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has requested the government to temporarily withdraw import duty on rice to increase the supply and, in turn, contain the price of this staple food in the local markets.

Rice price in Bangladesh is rising and the rate of coarse grain has crossed Tk 50 a kilogramme nearly after a year

Rice millers say Bangladesh has 'adequate' rice stock

The country has achieved bumper Aman yield and it would not need to import rice if good yield of Boro paddy is achieved, said the minister

Aman paddy harvesting season has begun, but the general mass is struggling to buy rice as the price of the staple food is still high in the local market.

The government has permitted 125 companies to import a total of 246,000 tonnes of rice in order to cool down the domestic market for the staple grain in Bangladesh.

Hoarding by small traders as well as large business groups has been causing rice prices to soar, giving low-income people a hard time.

The prices of rice, edible oil, beef, sugar, egg and onion have risen more in Bangladesh than that of the international markets, affecting the poor people who are already suffering from erosion of purchasing capacity for pandemic caused income losses, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) today.

The government will buy eight lakh metric tonnes of paddy at Tk 26 per kg in the current Boro season.

The government will start a special open market sale (OMS) of coarse rice at Tk 10 per kg from Sunday (April 5) in all cities and district towns to ensure food for the urban poor amid the countrywide shutdown.

The government is going to launch special open market sale (OMS) of coarse rice at the rate of Tk 10 per kg at all city corporation areas of the country in bid to ensure food for relatively poor people during the nationwide shutdown to curb coronavirus transmission.