The Ministry of Rural Economic Affairs has taken steps to issue 90,958 MT of paddy of the Paddy Marketing Board at district level to private paddy mill owners and Lanka Sathosa to be processed into rice.
It further considered that though Lanka Sathosa has already processed the paddy and a kilogram of rice is being sold through Sathosa outlets at Rs. 76/-, private mill owners have still not issued them to the market. The Cabinet has decided to appoint a Cabinet Subcommittee to issue the rest of the stocks in a suitable method and to take action against mill owners who have omitted the issuing of rice stocks to the market.
The Government of Indonesia will donate 10,000 MT of rice to Sri Lanka as to a request made by President Maithripala Sirisena and it will arrive in Sri Lanka soon. Cabinet of ministers also paid attention to the need of importing rice from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam unless the price of rice is reduced.
