The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe
Wasantha Samarasinghe said price controls have been applied selectively where necessary to protect farmers and domestic producers, while imports remain restricted and rice imports have been suspended. He stated that Sri Lanka has a three-month surplus of the main rice varieties, contributing to lower market prices for Kekulu and Nadu rice below or near the maximum retail price. He also referred to a Lanka Sathosa campaign and noted that global shipping disruptions had affected supply conditions.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the Hon. Member’s question is valid. As he noted, we have not imposed price controls on everything. Some items do require price controls to protect farmers and domestic producers. We have done so where necessary. Imports are currently restricted. Regarding rice, we have suspended imports. About 85% of our consumption is red Nadu, white Nadu, white Kekulu, and red Kekulu. We have a surplus adequate for three months’ domestic requirement in those categories. That is why Kekulu rice, which was sold at Rs. 220, is now around Rs. 185–200, and Nadu, for which the maximum retail price is Rs. 230, is around Rs. 200–220.
¶ 02 We have launched a campaign through Lanka Sathosa. Despite global disruptions beyond our control—ships arriving and containers being turned back—we must focus on the supplementary question.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 20 March 2026 ·No. 23396 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 March 2026. No. 23396. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8341