MRF sells another 120,000 bags of reserve rice to stabilise domestic rice prices

By Admin 08 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
8 August 2023, Sittwe

The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) announced Monday that it would sell an additional 120,000 bags of reserve rice in order to stabilise domestic rice prices and to facilitate the people’s livelihood.

100,000 bags of the low-grade rice and 20,000 sacks of Paw Hsan Hmwe rice will be sold at Yangon’s two rice brokerages starting from August 7, the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) said in a statement on August 7.

The MRF will reportedly cooperate with other organisations in order to sell reserve rice to the public in September.

The MRF will make efforts in various ways to stabilise the price of rice and sell good quality rice at a low price for the average people, the statement added.

On August 7, a sack of Shwebo Paw Hsan Hmwe rice currently sells for K110,000 to K120,000 and the prices of Ayeyarwaddy Paw Hsan Hmwe range from K94,000 to K97,000. The low-grade rice is sold for K65,000 per sack at Yangon’s Bayintnaung rice brokerage and Wahdan rice brokerage, the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) said in a statement.

“The reserve rice sold by MRF is not enough nationally. I heard that the basic price set by the MRF is not lower than the outside price and the rice prices have gone up again,” said U Nay La, a former rice trader who studies and monitors domestic commodity prices.

The MRF has sold 50,000 bags of 50-kilogramme reserve rice in order to stabilise domestic rice prices in recent days for the first time.  If the MRF sells 120,000 bags of rice now, the total number of rice sacks to be sold will be 170,000.

“The MRF’s rice sales will be enough for people in Yangon, Ayeyarwady and Bago regions, but nationally it will not be enough,” said U Phyo Mauk, a rice mill owner in Ayeyarwady Region.

The MRF is selling reserve rice to stabilise domestic rice prices, but businessmen believe that rice prices will not decrease because they have not reached the entire country and there is no difference with external prices.