Poor to get cut-rate rice in Bangladesh

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh will distribute some 220,000 tonnes of rice among the poor through hundreds of cut-price shops across the country over two months, officials said on Tuesday.

"The shops will start selling rice from Aug. 20 for the next two months, Finance Adviser (minister) Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters.

The period will cover the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, due to start from early next month.

A kg of rice will be sold at 28 taka ($0.41) against the current retail market price between 35 and 44 taka.

Dealers will however procure the rice for distribution through cut-price shops from government stocks at 26.50 taka per kg.

The paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles will distribute separately an additional 10,000 tonnes of rice during Ramadan through cut-price outlets in the capital Dhaka.

The government and the BDR ran similar cut-price shops across the country early this year and sold more than 200,000 tonnes of rice when food prices started rising at home and abroad.

The cut-price shops were operated in addition to the government's vulnerable group-feeding programme that distributed rice and wheat free of cost to some 16 million people from January to April.

After losing some 3.0 million tonnes of foodgrains, mostly rice, due to floods and Cyclone Sidr last year, Bangladesh harvested some 19 million tonnes of the summer variety "boro" rice and 1.4 million tonnes of wheat this year.