Govt remove duties to quell rice prices

THE government has taken fiscal policy measures to curb inflation by exempting import duty for rice which controls the largest share of the food basket.

Thus, Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade issued permission for the importation of 90,000 tonnes of rice to six companies for a period of one month between this and next month.

“The imported rice should be sold at lower price since we have waived some duties and we will give them indicative prices,” Dr Ashatu Kijaji, Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade told reporters on Wednesday.

The minister said without mentioning the six companies that the government expects the rice price to go down from between 2,500/- and 3,500/- a kilogramme, thus cooling down food inflationary pressure.

“The imported rice consignment should be sold before the harvesting season in April to protect local farmers,” Dr Kijaji said.

The National Consumer Price Index between last December and January has increased by 0.7 per cent. The increase of the overall index is attributed to price increase for some food and non-food items.

Some food items that contributed to an increase of the index include wheat grains by 2.5 per cent, rice (2.9%), maize grains (5.0%), wheat flour (0.6%), sorghum flour (2.9%) and maize flour (3.3%).

According to Ministry of Agriculture research in 2019, the domestic demand for rice was growing at a rate exceeding 6.0per cent annually, with some countries like Kenya and Ethiopia reaching over 12 per cent, faster than any other staple food in the region.

“This increase is mostly attributed to population growth, improved income, and urbanisation,” the National Rice Development Strategy Phase II report of Ministry of Agriculture showed.

The report further showed that the country per capita consumption of rice is estimated to be 25 kilogrammes per year.

“Rice is now being recognised as a strategic crop and a major component of food security and income for the region,” the report said.

The government thus issued the rice permits since is regarded as most consumed staple food with highest price in the country and targeting it will help to quell food inflation.

The regions with the lowest rice prices are Iringa, Simiyu and Tabora and the highest are Dar es Salaam, Lindi and Manyara.

Meanwhile the prices of maize in this month were between 750/- and 1,750/- per kg and spot survey showed that the price remain unchanged January.

Additionally, the government has opened some 15 maize selling centres across the country to suppress prices in the market. The maize are sold at a subsidised price of between 680/- and 900/- per kg. The centres had sold 29,084 tonnes last month.