The government reduced the duty on rice imports to meet local demand and stabilize the market as a shortage of wheat supply made many consumers turn to rice.
The Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and India's ban on wheat export have caused the drop in wheat imports, while floods have harmed rice cultivation in the country this year.
In a statutory regulatory order (SRO) issued Thursday, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) reduced the tariff on rice import from 62.5% to 25%, which will be effective from June 22 to October 31 later this year.
A meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee, which decided to reduce the tariff and import rice, was held in the first week of June with Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder in the chair.
Rising wheat prices and declining imports have pushed up the price of flour in the country and put pressure on rice.
In addition, early floods, storms and heavy rains have hampered rice yields in the haor areas, which in turn has led to fears of further volatility in rice prices.
At the meeting in June, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the demand for rice has increased due to the impediment to wheat imports and increase in human and non-human consumption of rice.
However, the government does not have information on the actual amount of rice produced in the country, so the food ministry is struggling to determine the amount of imports based on the new demand growth and deficit.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque recently claimed on various occasions that the damages in rice cultivation were small, and its production will increase this year too.
According to the food ministry, the government aims to procure 1.1 million tonnes of boiled rice, 50,000 tonnes sun-dried rice and 650,000 tonnes Boro paddy in this Boro season.
The government is collecting paddy at Tk1,080 per maund, while it sells at Tk1,200 in the market.
They are also collecting coarse rice at Tk40 per kg, while its price in the market is Tk50.
Due to these, the procurement target of paddy and rice will not be fulfilled, said sources.