Govt to buy 0.22m tonnes of wheat to boost import from US

The Advisers' Council on Government Purchase approved Tuesday procurement of another 0.22 million tonnes of wheat from the United States under a government-to-government arrangement.

This is the third time the government will purchase wheat from the US.

The Food Ministry earlier signed two contracts with a US agency to buy a total of 0.44 million tonnes of wheat to boost import from the USA aiming to protect Bangladesh's exports to America. This will help reduce the trade deficit in favour of USA.

The meeting was chaired by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed. At the meeting the Directorate General of Food was given the go-ahead to buy the grain from Agrocorp International PTE Ltd, which is authorised by US Wheat Associates.

The purchase will cost Tk 8.42 billion, with the price fixed at $312.25 per tonne.

UNB adds, the purchase body approved two key proposals under the Road Transport and Highways Division (RHD) aimed at accelerating the construction of the Mirganj Bridge over the Arial Khan River on the Rahamatpur-Babuganj-Muladi-Hizla Highway (Z-8034).

The approval came from the 48th meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase in this year held virtually with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.

The Committee recommended approval of the construction work under Package WP-01, awarding the contract to China Road and Bridge Corporation at a cost of Tk 10.72 billion.

To ensure effective supervision of the project, the Committee also approved another contract worth Tk 2.81 billion.

The supervision will be carried out by a joint venture of international and local firms, including Nippon Koei Co. Ltd., Oriental Consultants Global, DevConsultants Ltd., and others.

Officials said the construction of the Mirganj Bridge will significantly improve regional connectivity and facilitate socio-economic development in the southern districts.