RECENT BURNING ECONOMIC TOPIC

Consumers from lower and middle income brackets have been hard hit by the skyrocketing price of rice in the last two days in Teknaf border areas because Burma stopped exporting rice to Bangladesh. Consumers from lower and middle income brackets have been hard hit by the skyrocketing price of rice in the last two days in Teknaf border areas because Burma stopped exporting rice to Bangladesh.

Rice is not being exported to Bangladesh from Burma over the last two days, so, the price of rice is spiraling in Teknaf border areas. Earlier, hundreds of metric tons of rice were exported to Bangladesh from Burma daily and Bangladesh got a lot of revenue from the rice.

The minimum price for coarse rice was Tk 32 a kg two days ago, up from Tk 26 a week ago in Teknaf. Prices of medium-quality rice varieties, consumed mostly by the middle class, ranged between Tk 38 and 45, compared to Tk 32 to 38 last week. The cost of a 50 kg rice bag rose by taka 400-500 both on retail and wholesale markets. So, at present, a bag of 50 kg rice is being sold Taka 1,800, while it was only Tk.1, 300 a week ago.

Therefore, most of the poor and middle class people are facing acute crisis in procuring rice.

In addition, India also stopped selling rice to Bangladesh . So, the price of rice is shooting up across the country ( Bangladesh ). A kg of coarse rice is being sold an Chittagong Taka 36, while it was being sold only Tk 26- a week ago, said a rice trader in Chittagong .

Bangladesh people expect the governments of Bangladeesh and India to vigorously interact in making sure that the five hundred thousand tones of rice that India has agreed to export to Bangladesh is delivered in quickly so as to help Bangladeshi people bring down the prices in the local market, according to rice traders.

The Bangladesh is working on a plan to import rice from Burma , Thailand and Vietnam to ease the situation created by current floods and cyclone, according to commerce secretary of Bangladesh At a press briefing on January 1, Tapan Chowdhury, the Food Adviser said the government now has nothing to do with reducing the prices of rice. But, leaders of political parties bitterly criticized and protested his comment.