The Sri Lankan Cabinet granted approval to
import 50,000 metric tons of GR11 rice, which is similar to Keeri Samba non
basmati rice, and eggs to meet the shortfall in the market, according to Sri
Lankan media reports.
Accordingly,
the private sector will be permitted to import 50,000 MTs of GR11 rice
following a Cabinet Paper submitted by the Trade Minister.
Since there is
ban in India for export of non basmati rice, it remains to be seen whether the
Indian government would relax the ban because of the neighborhood first policy
says the trade sources in India
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also granted
approval to continue the import of eggs from India due to the increase in egg
prices in the local market. A total of
155 million eggs have been imported to the country so far and a further stock
of 18 million eggs will be imported before December 31, 2023.
The Cabinet
has also granted approval for the State Trading (General) Corporation to import
15,000 metric tons of maize to meet the demand for poultry feed production.