Bangladesh News

The economic affairs committee of advisers yesterday relaxed procurement rules so that 5 lakh tons of rice can be purchased from India to tackle the ongoing food crisis in the country.

The committee also approved import of 25,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Saudi Arabia.

The committee on economic affairs, presided by finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, met at the Chief Adviser’s Office yesterday even though the meeting was scheduled for today.

Food ministry sources said the government will need to open the letters of credit (LC) by the end of January and make 95 percent advance payment to India for the 5 lakh tonnes of rice that India offered to sell directly to the government of Bangladesh.

Earlier, India offered to export the rice with conditions that the Bangladesh government would import the rice through its five state-owned organisations.

Since both these conditions were at odds with the procurement rules of the government, it decided to relax its procurement regulations to expedite import of the rice from India.

A government delegation led by Food Secretary Ayub Mian visited India recently to set a price of the 5 lakh tons of rice that India offered to sell.

The price, however, could not be fixed, food ministry officials told The Daily Star.

According to a recent Indian announcement, it will not sell the rice for less than $ 500 a tonne. However, India had offered to sell the 5 lakh tonnes of rice to Bangladesh months before it raised the price tag for the rice.