It is reported that the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said in a press conference held at the Presidential Media Center that due to the lack of rice reserves in the country, rice has to be brought from the country.
He also mentioned that if there was a reserve of rice, the paddy mill owners would not have the ability to determine the price of rice.
The minister who commented further,
“Even though we had a successful harvest last season, we don’t have rice reserves. I kept asking the treasury and the banks if we kept a reserve, the mill owners would not want to surrender to us. When they unnecessarily increased the price, we could have released the rice. But we had no way to get money. We bought a small amount with the money of the Agricultural Trust Fund. I told them to send it to the market as paddy or rice as soon as possible. I don’t think it is enough to cover this deficit.”
