One reason for the greater efficiency is that if we subsidize the thing, then everyone who consumes it gains from that subsidy. There is a thriving black market in selling such food stamps for actual cash money, the attraction that cash can be used to buy anything. The correct answer, instead of subsidizing things like rice, is to subsidize people. Give those poor the price of a bag of rice and let them go and get it in the normal market. That is, if we wish to make poor people richer, we should give them money, not subsidize the price of things for them.

Source: Dhaka Tribune April 11, 2020 10:41 UTC