Bangladesh can export as many as 1 lakh tonnes of rice this year as the country has met its yearly demand, said Food Minister Md Qamrul Islam.
The minister made the claim after Bangladesh signed a deal with Sri Lanka at the Food Ministry to export 25,000 tonnes of rice at $450 per tonne.
A private company from Sri Lanka is buying the rice from Bangladesh, sources at the ministry said. Lalin Fernandez signed the deal on behalf of the Sri Lankan company, and Director General of Food Md Sarowar Khan signed the deal on behalf of Bangladesh.
Following the signing, the minister said Bangladesh has enough rice storage this year and can easily meet the countrywide yearly demands.
“We have produced 12.5 lakh tonnes of rice, with which we can easily meet our yearly demand and have some surplus. We can export 1 lakh tonnes of rice any time,” he said.
He also claimed that the price of rice in the local market was stable now, and the government was strictly maintaining it with zero tolerance.
The Sri Lankan delegates said they were going to collect the rice within a very short time.
Bangladesh has exported aromatic rice before, but such a large quantity of a non-aromatic variety is being exported for the first time.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the decision to export rice on September 18.
