The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar, Nov 12 ()-Rice import from Myanmar started again on Monday after a one-and-a-half-year break under a crash course to bring down the soaring prices of the staple on the domestic market. Assistant Collector of local Customs and VAT Office Sikder Anwarul Islam said 7,400 kgs of rice in 148 sacks were released on the first day through the land port on Teknaf border.

Border sources said that as Aman harvest began in the neighboring country, their government permitted the export of rice to Bangladesh. "Besides, the importers in the country have shown interest in importing rice as the government made rice import duty-free," said one official.

The caretaker government has lifted import duties on nine essential commodities, including rice, wheat, pulses, oils and milk, in the wake of unprecedented price spirals, blamed on short supply as well as market manipulation.

Also, reports said, recent restrictions on rice export from India contributed, to some extent, to the upturn of the market. Local importers here said huge quantities rice would be imported from the rice-surplus Myanmarese market.