Govt to buy 1 lakh tonnes of wheat from Russia

The government will buy 100,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia under the state-to-state contract, according to a decision taken by the cabinet committee on government purchase today.

Prices of wheat will be determined through discussion, said Md Shamsul Arefin, an additional secretary of the cabinet division after the meeting chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

The government plans to buy 5 lakh tonnes of wheat from the international market during the current fiscal year of 2021-22, in order to carry out its food distribution programme under monetised and non-monetised arrangement.

Of the amount, the government will buy 2 lakh tonnes from Russia. An agreement has already been signed between the two countries and Russia has already shipped first consignment against the contract, said an official of the food ministry.

Early this month, the government decided to buy 50,000 tonnes of wheat from a Singapore based firm Agrocorp.

In fiscal year 2020-21, the Directorate General of Food bought 4.78 lakh tonnes of wheat from abroad, according to data by the food ministry.