As demand during the festive season has surged, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen has instructed officials to release freshly milled rice to the market, to strengthen existing rice supply.
“We want to act fast on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s directive. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will take action against errant rice sellers,” Minister Bathiudeen said today (19).
Minister Bathiudeen is moving the Lanka Sathosa retail chain under his Ministry to support the rice consumer.
The Minister also instructed his officials to import 10,000 metric tonnes of rice and to buy 20,000 metric tonnes of paddy (both white and nadu) from the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) immediately, starting today.
He then instructed the Cooperatives Wholesale Establishment (CWE) under his Ministry to make arrangements to mill them at its earliest.
The CWE is expected to start paddy purchase from PMB today and thereafter start releasing this paddy to both government and private sector millers for processing. This freshly milled rice from millers will then be released to Lanka Sathosa, thereby successfully stalling any price increase.
The freshly milled rice will be sold by Lanka Sathosa at a competitive Rs 78 per kilo.
Previously on December 14, the Ministerial Committee on Economic Management headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gave the go ahead to import new rice volumes up to 250,000 metric tonnes to meet the demand in the market.
It is under this mandate that Minister Bathiudeen is moving his officials on December 19 so that national rice supplies are strengthened, resulting in a grand festival atmosphere.