President orders officials to prevent rice shortages

President Maithripala Sirisena has informed officials that under no circumstances should there be a rice shortage in the market, his office said in a statement yesterday. 

The President had expressed these views during a special discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat on maintaining rice stocks at warehouses and predicting demand for rice in the coming months.

President Sirisena called for this meeting after he received information that there was a shortage of rice in the market. He also asked officials for an update of rice stocks at State-run warehouses.

The President emphasised the need of maintaining rice stocks at warehouses consistent with the demand for it and said that the Ministry of trade should continuously track stocks and ensure they meet demand.

The attention of the President was also drawn towards the difficulties faced by consumers due to high prices exceeding the maximum prices set by the Government. He also demanded officials to enforce laws against retailers selling rice at higher than stipulated prices.

It was also discussed in detail the ways in which to prepare the private sector to import rice according to the demand in the future.