Import of another 124,000 tonnes of rice given go-ahead

The government has allowed private traders to import another 124,000 tonnes of parboiled and sunned rice after giving go-ahead to bring in 83,000 tonnes of the same kind of rice nearly a month ago.

This time, 91,000 tonnes of parboiled rice will be imported and 33,000 tonnes sunned rice, the food ministry said in a notification yesterday.

The new move comes more than a month after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) slashed the related import tariff.

The importers will have to market the entire 124,000 tonnes by May 15, according to the notification.

Over the last month, prices of coarse rice, consumed mostly by low-income people, rose 2 percent to between Tk 48 and Tk 52 per kilogramme in Dhaka.

Price of medium and fine grains also increased too, according to market price data collected by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh produced 3.9 crore tonnes of rice in 2022-23 fiscal year, a 2.49 percent rise year-on-year.

The NBR cut customs tariff on rice in early February to cut import costs and encourage businesses to bring in more rice.

The food ministry said the importers will have to inform district food controllers about the quantity of imported rice, stocks and marketing.

Imported rice cannot be repackaged in the name of the proprietor's organisation. Also, the rice has to be sold in imported bags, it added.