The Hon. Rohana Bandara
Rohana Bandara raised concerns over rising rice prices and questioned the effectiveness of government imports in stabilizing the market. He argued that the Rs. 65 tax on imported rice keeps import prices aligned with domestic prices, while paddy prices have risen above Rs. 9,000 per 50 kg bag. He asked whether the Government would maintain prices when the next harvest enters the market to ensure farmers receive a fair price.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you for the reply, Hon. Deputy Minister. I believe your attention is on future measures, and I appreciate that.
¶ 02 Today, rice prices in the market have risen considerably. We even saw the Government resorting to imports. While attempts are being made to control prices, we do not see a fair intervention to provide a reasonable price to consumers. Due to a Rs. 65 tax, imported rice comes to match domestic market prices. A 50 kg paddy bag exceeds Rs. 9,000 now. Even importing rice will not stabilize prices unless proper measures are taken. When the next harvest reaches the market, will you maintain these prices and ensure farmers get a fair price?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 18 December 2024 ·No. 1735286612086554 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Rohana Bandara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 December 2024. No. 1735286612086554. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12069