Finance and commerce adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Wednesday said he had directed officials concerned to collect rice and wheat beyond the targets to ensure sufficient food stock.
鈥業f the target is X, the achievement should be X plus 1,鈥� he said after a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee at the Secretariat.
Reviewing the overall food stock at the meeting presided over by the finance adviser, the committee decided to procure 9.1 lakh tonnes of rice and paddy in the current rice procurement season of aman, second biggest staple after boro rice.
Of the amount, paddy is 3.5 lakh tonnes, boiled rice 5.5 lakh tonnes, and non-boiled or atap one lakh tonnes.
The collection of aman rice and paddy is scheduled to begin from November 17 with a target higher than the last season鈥檚 revised target by 60,000 tonnes, fixed under the immediate past Awami League regime toppled on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising.
The committee also fixed the procurement price of per kilogram aman paddy at Tk 33 and that of per kilogram boiled and non-boiled aman rice at Tk 46.
In the past season, the procurement price of per kilogram of aman paddy was Tk 30 and that of per kilogram boiled and non-boiled rice at Tk 44.
Calling the procurement prices of rice reasonable for both farmers and consumers, the adviser hoped that the market price would be the same.
If rice is sold at higher than the fixed prices, the middlemen would get benefit, he said, adding that this was undesirable.
The finance and commerce adviser remarked that monitoring of essential foods and goods became a crucial issue.
He further said that he had directed the food ministry to check the food stock and take necessary measures to import food items as farmers faced a massive loss of rice in the flash flood and devastating rain in September鈥揙ctober.
Officials concerned had also been asked to import food items through private importers, he said, adding that private importers could do the job at a better pace.
On November 4, the government food stock stood at 13.51 lakh tonnes鈥攔ice 9.01 lakh tonnes; wheat 4.48 lakh tonnes; and paddy 3,434 tonnes鈥攁ccording to the food ministry.
The interim government, struggling to contain the prolonged high inflation left by the Awami League regime, has already cut duties on import of rice, sugar and onion.
The general point-to-point inflation rate eased to 9.92 per cent in September down from 10.49 per cent in August, but still a decade high due to allegedly flawed monetary policy of the previous political regime.
In the first quarter or July鈥揝eptember of FY25, wholesale coarse rice prices rose by 1.79 per cent while wheat prices declined by 1 per cent, according to the updated Bangladesh Food Situation Report.
In the current FY25, the government has targeted to import overall 1.05 million tonnes of food grains of which rice is 0.35 million tonnes and wheat 0.70 million tonnes, according to the updated report.
In July鈥揝eptember, wheat import using public and private channels reached 1.44 million tonnes, registering a 16.5 per cent increase from the same period of the past year, reflecting efforts to secure grain reserves to ensure food security amid climate challenges and fluctuating global markets, said the update.