Rice imports to bring down prices

Rohan Mathes

As a short-term measure to push down the escalating rice prices, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the Government to import an adequate quantity of rice.

Presiding at a meeting with mill owners, wholesale sellers and rice importers at Temple Trees yesterday, President Rajapaksa also directed the authorities to release around 19,000 metric tons of rice stocked in Government and private warehouses.

“At a time the Government has taken many measures to maintain the rice price at a level the consumers could bear and afford, the prices have sky-rocketed to a point where the consumer has been placed in a very difficult situation,” President Rajapaksa said.

The Government should obtain the optimum cooperation of all stakeholders in the process of granting a ‘guaranteed price’ for the farmer and a ‘reasonable price’ for the consumer,” the President said.

He queried as to why consumers had not obtained the benefit, despite the measures taken by the Government in approving the import of 75,000 tons of rice free of duty.

President Rajapaksa underscored the importance of enhancing agro production and the utilisation of every inch of land for this purpose, including the East.

He instructed the authorities to render their fullest assistance and provide adequate security for the purpose.

Agriculture Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena pointed out the importance of the mill-owners and the importers working in unison and transparency to resolve the crisis.

Minister Sirisena proposed that the mill owners and the importers should provide access to the relevant authorities to check their available stocks at any moment of time and also to submit a report on their stocks, every three months.

Minister Bandula Gunawardena pointed out here that the stocks would be distributed systematically by the Cooperative mechanism.

At the discussions however, it had been pointed out by the Wholesale traders and rice importers that the rising flour prices, had resulted in an increase in the daily consumption and the demand for rice by 2000 tons, and thus created an equality in the demand and supply equation.

This and the utilisation of rice flour for the manufacture of animal foods has contributed to the rice in rice prices. This trend has been prevalent in India, China and Pakistan in the Asian countries and in the global markets in general, they said.

They had maintained that the daily consumption of rice at present was around 6,000 metric tons and the supply of a stock of that quantity would suffice to push the prices down.

They had pointed out however that in the global markets, the indications are that the world wheat flour prices would tend to rise until June and that too would push the rice prices up.

The mill owners and the farmers were of the view that harvesting would begin by the end January, and when these stocks reached the market, the prices would come down.

Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Parliamentarian and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and Secretaries to the Ministries of Finance and Consumer Services participated in the discussions.