The Hon. Namal Karunaratne
Namal Karunaratne stated that previous government paddy procurement and rice sales involved significant subsidies and losses, citing purchases at Rs. 120 per 8 kg equivalent with additional costs and sales at Rs. 80 per kg, as well as earlier sales below purchase cost. He said the last Yala season saw no government procurement and existing stocks were sold, leaving the new government, at the start of the Maha season, without state stocks while small and medium millers also lacked reserves.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Member, recently — about two months before the change of Government — for paddy bought at Rs. 120 per 8 kg equivalent, the Government additionally bore around Rs. 10 for levies, transport, storage, etc., and that rice was sold at Rs. 80 per kg. Earlier, paddy bought at Rs. 50 per kg was sold at Rs. 24 per kg. This is what happened from state stores. You can verify details from former Minister Harrison as well. In the last Yala season the Government did not buy a single grain; even existing stocks were sold. When we took office, Maha season had just begun, and OMS outlets were selling as Yala harvest was coming in. Thus the Government had no stocks; small and medium millers also lacked stocks.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 18 December 2024 ·No. 1735286612086554 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Namal Karunaratne. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 December 2024. No. 1735286612086554. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12070