There are sufficient stocks of rice for the consumption of the country and there is no shortage of rice whatsoever, said Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, during his visit to the rice wholesale outlets in Pettah, Colombo yesterday (29). The Minister thus said that the government, therefore, will not allow any surge of the prices of rice.
However, the Essential Food Importers Association delivered rather a contradictory comment saying that rice importers do not currently have surplus stocks of rice upon distribution.
Meanwhile, the Union revealed that about 300 containers of imported rice have been stalled at the port and these stocks could not be released due to the non-issuance of dollars.
More than 10,000 metric tonnes of rice are stored in the said containers, according to reports. This begs the question whether the Trade Minister hinted about these stalled containers in his comment about rice sufficiency yesterday.
MIAP
