News
Traders play dirty tricks with avurudu rice
By selling the normal rice as ‘super grade’, traders have adopted a ruse to get over the Trade Ministry’s decision to introduce controlled prices for rice.
The ruse came as the Government imposed a control price for normal rice after traders started increasing prices following a drop in paddy production due to the drought.
An Internal Trade Ministry official said the price controls would apply only for normal rice and the ministry did not intend to impose controls on ‘super grade’ rice. However, on Thursday and Friday, 123 traders were arrested for selling rice above the controlled price. The official said the ministry was monitoring the situation and would import rice if the traders hoarded.
All Island Farmers Federation Secretary T.B. Sarath said traders were selling normal grades of rice labelled as ‘super grades’. He said traders claimed that they had bought stocks before the New Year season and were unable to reduce prices.
A reduction in rice stocks was observed this week in the markets following the introduction of price controls.