Rice prices will fall after imports arrive, says agriculture minister

The rising prices of rice due to the loss of the Haor harvest will drop once imports arrive in the market, says Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury.

“No one will deny that the price of rice has risen a bit recently,” she told reporters at a press conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Friday.

But there is a tendency to ‘exaggerate the extent’ of the rise in prices, the minister said.

The food ministry has officially proposed the import of rice and more is to come on a ‘G to G’ basis, eventually stabilising the market, she said.

“No one can say the market prices have spiralled out of people’s ability to purchase,” Matia said, “The fact is everyone is buying and eating rice. There will not be a shortage in the future either.”

According to the calculations by the food ministry, the flooding in the Haors or backswamps has led to the destruction of approximately 600,000 tonnes of rice.

But non-government agencies say the amount of rice destroyed is close to 2.2 million tonnes.