In the last 5 years, the price of coarse rice has increased by 56% and the price of flour has increased by 57%.

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According to the government’s Food Planning and Procurement Committee (FPMC), the price of coarse rice has increased by more than 56 percent in the country in the last five years. And during this period the price of open flour increased by 57 percent. Low-income people are in trouble due to the increase in the price of these two main foods.

According to the government’s Food Planning and Procurement Committee (FPMC) meeting, the average price of coarse rice in March 2020 in the country was 31 taka 46 paisa, which stood at 49 taka 11 paisa last March. The price of rice has increased continuously in these five years. The price situation of open flour was also highlighted in the meeting. It is reported that the average price of open flour in March 2020 was a little over Tk 27 per kg. Last March it stood at around 43 rupees.

Last year the price of open flour was higher, around Rs 59 per kg. Although the price of the product has decreased compared to last year, it is still 57 percent higher than in 2020.

A meeting of the food planning and distribution committee was held in the cabinet meeting room at the secretariat on Sunday. Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder is the chairman of the committee. The committee has 8 ministers and 10 secretaries. Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid, State Minister for Relief and Disaster Mohibbur Rahman, State Minister for Health Rokeya Sultana, State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam and others were present in the meeting. It was decided to buy 500,000 tons of paddy from the farmer at the rate of 32 taka per kg during the Boro season this year. This time the price has been increased by two rupees per kg.

After the meeting, the food minister told reporters that if necessary, more than five lakh tons of paddy will be purchased from the farmers. Besides paddy, 11 lakh tons of boiled rice will be procured at the rate of Tk 45 per kg. Last time it was bought at Tk 44 per kg. Apart from this, the government will buy one lakh tons of Atap rice at the rate of Tk 44 per kg. 50 thousand tons of wheat will also be bought at the rate of 34 taka per kg. The minister said that the purchase of paddy will start from May 7 and will continue till August 31. More paddy will be purchased from Haor. He said that the price of paddy has been increased by two rupees per kg so that farmers get fair price for their production.

In the food planning and distribution committee meeting, the situation of food production, import, price in the world market, country price, stock etc. was highlighted. It shows that 3 crore 91 lakh tonnes of rice has been produced in the financial year 2022-23.

Although the target of the Ministry of Agriculture was about 4 crore 16 lakh tonnes. The target of food grain production including rice, wheat and maize was about 4 crore 85 lakh tonnes. A little more than 4 crore 48 lakh tons have been produced.

For the current financial year 2023-24, the Ministry of Agriculture has set a target of 4 crore 34 lakh tonnes of rice production. Two season accounts are available. Where it can be seen that the production of Aush has been almost the same as last season – about 3 million tonnes. According to Aman’s provisional estimate, about 1.66 million tonnes of rice has been produced, which is 1.2 million tonnes more than last season.

Rice and flour are the main food of the people of the country. When the price of rice is high, the price of flour is also high. Although the price of wheat in the world market has come down to the level of 2020. Even in Russia and Ukraine, the two sources of wheat imports to Bangladesh, wheat prices are lower than in March 2020.

The meeting of the Food Planning and Supply Committee highlighted that the price of Russian wheat was $214 per tonne in March 2020, which rose to $410 in March 2022. Last March it fell to $204. Flour in Bangladesh rose from 27 taka to 59 taka per kg and now it has come down to 43 taka. A big reason why prices are still so high is the appreciation of the US dollar. During this time, the price of the dollar increased by about 30 percent. Even if the price of dollar is taken into consideration, it can be seen that the price of flour has not decreased as much as the price of wheat has decreased in the world market.

If the price of food increases, the low income people are in trouble. A Bangladesh Institute of Development Research (BIDS) study in 2022 showed that a very poor person spends 32 percent of his expenditure on rice. In case of poor people, this rate is 29 percent. Apart from this, a person who is not poor spends one-fifth of his expenditure on buying rice.

People are given food assistance at low cost through various government programs. But economists think that it is less than the demand. On the other hand, wages are rising at a slower rate than inflation. It means that the purchasing power of working people has decreased.

Khandaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the non-governmental organization Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told the media that rice and flour are two important products. If its price increases, the low income as well as the middle income people are under pressure.

He said that inflation is increasing more than wages are increasing. As a result, it is not possible for many to meet the expenses even with additional income.

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