Business Desk :
The government will import 500,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia and 330,000 tonnes of rice from India and Vietnam.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase at a meeting approved such proposals, along with some other proposals on Wednesday.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting.
As per the proposals placed by the Ministry of Food, the bulk wheat will be procured from Russia at a total cost of Tk 2042.50 crore.
In dollar terms, a total of $215 million will be spent to procure the entire consignment from the Russian Federation under a government-to-government (G-to-G) contract.
Recently, the government at a high-level meeting discussed whether an alternative currency like the Ruble could be used for imports from Russia.
But Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division Md Abdul Barik, who briefed reporters about the cabinet body decision, informed that only the US dollar, no alternative currency, will be used in this purchase.
He also said that nothing was mentioned in the purchase proposal as to which Russian port will be used in importing the bulk wheat. Each tonne of Russian wheat will cost $430 while per kg at Tk 40.85 considering the US dollar exchange rate at Tk 95.
