The government will procure 50,000 tons of non-bashmoti and parboiled rice from Thailand through an international tender, official sources have said. The Food Ministry had aimed to procure one million tons of rice from international markets to meet the current shortage in rice, which fell to a five-year low of 345,000 tons on September 14. Last month, the government signed two deals with Vietnam and Cambodia to import 2.5 million tons of rice from each of the countries. The minister earlier announced that the government will procure 1.6 million tons of paddy, rice and wheat, of which 78% was not achieved. “I did not buy the plan to procure 700,000 tons of rice and 800,000 tons of wheat,” he said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 19, 2017 20:37 UTC