Govt raises asking rates by 7-10pc

The government on Wednesday announced its decision to procure 1 million tonnes of rice and paddy during the upcoming Aman-harvest season.
Under the plan, parboiled rice will be procured at Tk 47 a kg, white rice (atap) at Tk 46 a kg, and paddy at Tk 33 a kg. The procurement period will span from November 17 this year to March 15, 2025.
The decision was finalised at a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (FPMC) held in the Cabinet conference room. The meeting was chaired by the committee's head and Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
Ahmed said the government aimed to procure 0.35 million tonnes of paddy, 0.55 million tonnes of parboiled rice, and 0.1 million tonnes of white rice (atap) during the Aman season. The procurement period would run from November 17 this year to February 28, 2025, for paddy and parboiled rice, and until March 15 for white rice, he added.
He also said the government had planned to import rice, wheat, sugar, lentil, chickpea, fertiliser, soybean, palm oil, and other essential commodities in line with the current demand and also the upcoming Ramadan.
"We have plans to import necessary commodities both for the government and the private sectors," added the finance adviser.
Salehuddin further said the asking price for grains had been fixed after taking into account farmers' production costs and possible milling costs incurred by millers.
Contacted, Hazrat Ali, a Nilphamari-based trader, said the rise in asking rates by Tk 3 would highly encourage farmers to sell grains to the government.
He said coarse rice price at mill gates in Nilphamari, Rangpur, and Dinajpur was Tk 45-46 a kg at present after a surge of Tk 3-4 a kg in the last two months. "It would go down to Tk 43-44 a kg after the arrival of the new Aman crop in the next two weeks. So, millers could earn Tk 2-3 a kg easily."
Value chain expert Prof Dr Rashidul Hasan said coarse and medium-grain rice prices increased to Tk 55-70 a kg, marking a rise of Tk 5-8 a kg in the last two months.
He said the commoners were already in a fix, and further price hikes might push millions to cut their intakes.
"Following the floods and crop losses in July and August, the government increased the procurement target volume, which is appreciable. But the volume should be raised further to maximise stocks in public warehouses to avert and tackle any market volatility," Rashidul noted.
The Directorate General of Food said public warehouses now had 0.9 million tonnes of rice and 0.45 million tonnes of wheat. One of its officials said the directorate had started formalities to import 0.5 million tonnes of rice.
Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue has withdrawn all import duties for rice, except for a 2 per cent advance income tax. The move is aimed at encouraging traders to bring in the grain.
The country produced an all-time high of 16.6 million tonnes of rice in the last Aman season. The target is 17 million tonnes for the upcoming season. The Aman season contributes 38 per cent to the total rice production volume.

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