Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-12-20

Import of Rice to maintain a buffer stock for the prevention of a price hike in the Domestic Market

- Due to the adverse weather conditions prevailing in the island, which has resulted in not having adequate rain, there is a steep decline in the extent of land cultivated in paddy in the Maha Season this year. As such, the proposal made by Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, for the private sector to import rice and maintain a buffer stock to prevent any shortage of rice in the market, to store the rice so imported in the bonded warehouses as a buffer stock and to release the rice to the market systematically, so as to enable the control of price of rice in the market, was approved by the Cabinet.