The rice prices hit a record high in the local market following tiny imports in the past two months.
Common coarse rice retails at Tk 56-58, medium at Tk 63-66 and finer at Tk 75-98 a kg, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and city groceries.
Cabinet division recently forwarded a letter of food ministry's external procurement division to the revenue board with a plea to withdraw regulatory duty (RD) on rice import following higher prices and meagre imports.
The food ministry letter, prepared in the first week of August, also cited that only 17,000 tonnes of the staple were imported against 1.01-million tonnes permitted to 383 importers.
It said with the slashing of duty to the present level (27.5 pc) in June last from early 65 pc, Indian exporters started to raise their asking rates.
The Bangladeshi currency also saw a notable depreciation against the dollar during the period for which importers are not getting interested in bringing rice.
However, only 36,000 tonnes of rice has reached home in last two months (July-August 23) and the rest amount should be brought within October 31, according to a ministry official.
The deadline for opening letters of credit (L/Cs) has been extended to August 29 which was August 21 previously, he said.
However, rice prices hit an all-time high, surpassing the September 2017 record, according to the TCB and city groceries.
Coarse rice hit a maximum of Tk 58 a kg which was Tk 56 in September 2017, according to the TCB data.
Medium rice prices hit Tk 63-68 a kg while finer Tk 75-98 in city markets, up by Tk 4.0-8.0 from the previous record, according to city groceries and TCB.
Former agriculture secretary and market expert Anwar Faruque says the government should disclose data on production of rice in Boro season as soon as possible.
"I believe the government was in the knowledge that production might have declined in the season for various reasons and import would be unavoidable."
"Despite knowing this," Mr Faruque says, "there was no comprehensive planning visible, neither for import nor for good local procurement."
Only 60 per cent of the targeted Boro procurement has been achieved, he mentions. "0.1-million hectares of Aus crops have got damaged this season. Existing drought-like situation, fuel-price hike, fertiliser crisis and load-shedding during this Aman season have also been raising concern."
"Apart from removing all duties on rice imports for a certain period, the government will have to give diesel subsidy to farmers for smooth irrigation," he suggests.
"Fertiliser shortage should be resolved within this month or it would hit Aman output severely," according to the expert.
