By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh has said it would request donors to give food grains instead of funds for disaster relief after the Nov 15 Cyclone Sidr to help curb rising food prices at home.
It also decided to allow open market sale at private outlets to curb the rise of rice prices by one or two taka ever day. One US dollar fetches around 60 taka.
There were reports attributing the price rise to India, which has hiked its export price. India had pledged 500,000 tonnes of rice for the cyclone victims.
But the Indian High Commission this week clarified that the export price rise was not applicable to food-for-aid scheme under which India was exporting rice to Bangladesh after the cyclone.
India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had pledged this rice during his brief visit here on Dec 1, though India has been facing a shortage in its own rice stocks meant for its public distribution system.
State-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is the principal importer.
TCB data showed that the price of coarse rice had increased by 26-30 percent in last one month while the increase in the last one year was around 70 percent, The Daily Star said Thursday.
Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said the government would sit with traders to find ways to keep rice prices “at a tolerable level”.
Coarse rice was sold at 32-33 taka Wednesday at retail shops in the capital.
Swarna rice imported from India was sold at 34 taka while its price was 32 taka on Tuesday.
According to Wednesday’s TCB price list, the prices of normal quality Paijam and Lata rice were 34-35 taka per kg. These varieties were sold at 27-29 taka per kg a week ago.