Govt re-imposes Rs 10 per kg duty on wheat grain
The Government yesterday re-imposed a duty of Rs 10 per Kilogram on
wheat grain imported into the country.
The Government in November last year had waived this duty due to
shortage of rice in the country at that time. As wheat flour is used as
a substitute for rice the Government had taken this measure in order to
provide relief to consumers. As the result the prices of both flour and
rice came down in the last quarter of 2009.
The Government with the intention of protecting the farmers at a time
when the harvest of Yala season is coming into the market has re-imposed
this duty on wheat grain effective from last night. The Government has
given a guaranteed price of Rs 30 per Kilogram of paddy and with
Government's plan to cultivate over one hundred thousand acres of fallow
paddy land in the North and East in the forthcoming Maha season after
several years the country will have sufficient stock of rice in the
years to come.
Therefore, as a measure to protect the farmers and to promote local
rice production the Government has re-imposed the import duty of Rs 10
per kg on wheat grain. Sri Lanka imports only wheat grain and makes it
flour locally.
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