Bangladesh Turns to India for 50,000 Tonnes of Rice to Combat Inflation

Bangladesh is facing numerous challenges at present. The nation's economy is in a state of disarray. Concurrently, there is a scarcity of food grains. To address the deficit in the country's food reserves and satisfy consumer demand amidst rising inflation, the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus aims to seek help of 50,000 tonnes of rice from India. He has requested food aid from India.

Heightened challenges for Bangladesh

In addition to violence, Bangladesh is grappling with numerous issues. Despite the widespread violence, the nation is currently experiencing a food supply shortage. Bangladesh has requested a substantial quantity of rice from India.

This rice will be utilized for state-sponsored food distribution programs, which are actively operating to satisfy consumer demand amid ongoing high inflation. The proposal received approval yesterday during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Economic Affairs, led by Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed.

India set to request 50,000 tonnes of rice

The Food Ministry is set to import rice from India via M/s Bagaria Brothers Pvt Ltd. As per the Food Ministry's data, Bangladesh had a food grain stock of 11.48 lakh tonnes as of December 17, with approximately 7.42 lakh tonnes of that being rice.

Up to December 17 of the current financial year, the Bangladesh government had imported 26.25 lakh tonnes of food grains, including 54,170 tonnes of rice.

Grain will be gathered from the local market

The government intends to allocate 20.52 lakh tonnes of food grains through different channels in the financial year 2024-25. Of this amount, 8 lakh tonnes of rice will be sourced from the local market during the current Aman season. This will be succeeded by larger amounts of rice being locally supplied during the borough season in early 2025.