The food ministry has sought a Tk 26.51- billion emergency allocation to continue the subsidised open market sale (OMS) of key essentials without interruptions, sources said.
It recently requested the finance ministry to take steps in this connection.
The amount has been sought as an additional allocation in the Directorate General of Food's (DGF) main budget of Tk 219.40 billion for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Contacted, a Finance Division official said, "We received the food ministry's proposal and are working on it."
There was no allocation for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh's (TCB) OMS programme in the main DGF budget.
Special OMS programmes were conducted in the areas affected by the August floods. Because of Aman paddy's damage caused by the floods, the DGF fears not meeting the targets of paddy and rice collection from internal sources.
So, it recently sought an additional Tk 62.03 billion allocation in the revised FY25 budget to procure food grains from the international market. The Tk 26.51 billion emergency fund is part of the Tk 62.03 billion allocation sought by the DGF, which is under the food ministry.
The ministry believes approving the revised budget will take time. For this, it requested the emergency allocation to continue the OMS programme in January and February.
The DGF regularly sells flour (atta) and rice at subsidised rates to low-income families. Besides, the TCB sells edible oil, lentils, sugar, and rice at subsidised rates to 10 million low-income families that have the corporation's card, sources said.
The government has targeted to collect 2.83 million tonnes of food grains from local and international sources in FY25.
Besides, the DGF has targeted to distribute about 0.4 million tonnes of rice and 0.3 million tonnes of wheat through the OMS (general) programme.
Its target is to distribute 0.22 million tonnes of wheat among tea workers via OMS and 0.75 million tonnes of rice under the Food Friendly Programme.
Moreover, a target has been set to distribute 3.05 million tonnes of food grains through various monetised and non-monetised channels.
Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission in a recent observation said the country's annual demand for rice is 37-39 million tonnes while production is 40 million tonnes. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, production was 40.3 million tonnes in FY24.
Two rounds of devastating August floods damaged more than 5.5 million hectares of Aman field and 1.0 million hectares of Aush field. Crops were damaged in 23 eastern and south-eastern districts.
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