RICE prices have remained high and unstable for more than a month largely because of regulatory failure. Prices of miniket rice and the local nazirshail variety have remained high in Dhaka for a few weeks, ranging between Tk 70 and Tk 75 a kilogram for new stock and Tk 75 and Tk 85 a kilogram for old stock. The prices, however, raise serious questions as the government has taken a number of initiatives to manage the rice stock and stabilise prices. In December 2025, the government decided to buy 100,000 tonnes of rice from India and Pakistan. In November 2025, the government decided to import 6.5 lakh tonnes of food grains to boost national food stocks and ensure a buffer against volatility in rice and wheat prices. Amid a comfortable rice stock, price instability on the rice market suggests that the government focus has been largely on improving stock rather than market monitoring. The government, when introducing the additional open market sales programme on January 22 to sell rice for subsidised prices, described the price volatility as ‘undesirable.’ A mere acknowledgement of the issue is insufficient as effective improvement in market regulation and governance are the need of the hour.
It is assuring that the government has introduced an additional open market sales programme to sell rice for a subsidised price of Tk 30 a kilogram in 419 upazilas to stabilise the market. The initiative, as the government reports, aims to provide relief for consumers amid sporadic price hikes of fine varieties of rice in some areas. The government has, however, made no sincere effort to identify why its market monitoring mechanism fails to bring order. Instead, its import decisions raise questions about whether the authorities concerned act in the interests of traders rather than consumers. On January 22, the food ministry issued fresh permits allowing private traders to import 200,000 tonnes of parboiled rice despite the fact that around 600,000 tonnes approved earlier in the current financial year have already entered the country. Agricultural economists have termed the decision unnecessary at this stage, citing a strong aman harvest and an adequate public stock. They think that the move primarily serves the interests of business syndicates, enabling them to buy paddy for low prices from farmers and sell rice to the government for higher prices.
The government should ensure that policy decisions are taken in public interests, prioritising food security and consumer protection over narrow commercial gains. It should also decisively act against unscrupulous traders arbitrarily increasing rice prices to curb market manipulation and protect both farmers and consumers. Episodic drives against unscrupulous traders and increased dependency on imports are not an effective market monitoring mechanism.
