Lanka Sathosa to sell freshly milled rice

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen in an inspection tour of a Lanka Sathosa outlet

The Ministerial Committee on Economic Management headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has given the nod this week to import new rice volumes up to 250,000 metric tonnes to meet local market demand. 
Accordingly, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen has instructed relevant officials to take immediate action to release freshly milled rice to the market to strengthen the supply. 
“We want to act fast on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeshinghe’s directive. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will take action against errant rice sellers” said Minister Bathiudeen.
Minister Bathiudeen has instructed officials to import 10000 tonnes of rice, in addition to purchasing 20000 metric tonnes of paddy (both White rice and Nadu) from the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) immediately, starting 
19 December. 
The Cooperatives Wholesale Establishment (CWE) under the Commerce Ministry had made arrangements to mill the imported rice at its earliest. The CWE has begun paddy purchasing from PMB from this week and will start releasing this paddy to both government and private sector millers for processing. This freshly milled rice from millers will then be released to Lanka Sathosa, thereby successfully stalling any price increases. The freshly milled rice will be sold by Lanka Sathosa at a competitive Rs 78 per kilo.