Staff Reporter :
Encouraged by a bumper yield and good stocks at home, the government has decided to export at least 50,000 tonnes of rice, first of its kind since the independence, to Sri Lanka during the current fiscal year.
It will be a government to government (G to G) level trading.
The cabinet purchase committee’s meeting has approved rice exporting to Sri Lanka. Earlier decision came at the cabinet meeting on September 10, two months after the government extended the ban on non-fragrant rice export until June 2015 in order to ensure good supply and control price hikes in the local market, sources said.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said, the country has a stock of 11 lakh metric tonnes. Rice export to friendly country Sri Lanka ha been taken as a test case.
The price of exported rice would be finalized comparing with international markets. The export will not affect the price of local markets, he said.
Notifying the cabinet about this year’s rice production, Food Minister Qamrul Islam said that the Sri Lankan government had sought one lakh tonnes of rice from Bangladesh.
In response, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who chaired the meeting suggested that he should better export 50,000 tonnes now considering the flood situation, cabinet sources said.
If there is a good Aman harvest, another 50,000 tonnes of rice will be exported under government to government arrangement, said Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury.
Bangladesh has so far exported only aromatic rice in small quantities. In the last two fiscal years, export of aromatic rice amounted to Tk 77 crore, according to government statistics.
