Rice imports jump on duty cuts

Bangladesh has been importing about 7,000 tonnes of rice a day since the government slashed duty to make up for crop losses in two consecutive floods.

The government and private traders have imported about 352,000 tonnes of rice in the first 51 days of the current fiscal year, which is three times the amount purchased in the entire previous year.

Private traders accounted for 76 per cent of rice imports.

Data from the food ministry shows the government and private traders imported 133,000 tonnes of rice in fiscal 2016-17.

After losses suffered in early floods, the import duty for Bangladesh’s staple grain was brought down from 25 per cent to 10 per cent on Jun 20. A 3 per cent regulatory duty required to import rice was also withdrawn.

The amount was further slashed to 2 per cent on Aug 16 amid concerns over depleting reserves and further crop losses in monsoon flooding, according to bdnews24.com.