Bangladesh fixes rice prices to arrest hike

The government has fixed rice prices following a slight hike in the retail market.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 29 Sept 2020, 02:03 PM
Updated : 29 Sept 2020, 03:25 PM

The mills will now have to sell fine quality Miniket rice at Tk 2,575 a sack of 50 kg and medium quality at Tk 2,250 in line with the new prices.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder fixed the prices after sitting with the millers and traders at the Khadya Bhaban on Tuesday.

He said import of fine quality rice will begin if the businesses do not sell the grain at the fixed prices.

The food minister had initially told the mill owners to sell rice throughout October at prices they had been charging 15 days ago following objection by the traders.

He later met a group of traders again and set the new prices.

The traders said they had bought Miniket rice from the mills at Tk 2,555 per sack 15 days ago.

File Photo

Prices of almost all rice varieties increased by up to Tk 3 per kg in Dhaka in a space of 20 days amid floods and the coronavirus pandemic in the last week of August.

The prices rose by Tk 2 per kg across the board in a week recently.

Retailers at Karwan Bazar were selling Paijam variety of rice at Tk 47 per kg, Miniket Tk 51 and BR-28 Tk 44 a kg last Friday, all up by Tk 2 per kg from the previous week’s prices.