16 March
Rice merchants in Mandalay Region said they will sell the rice sufficiently at regular price if there is shortage of the crop in the market due to excess accumulation of public out of worries about COVID-19.
General Secretary of Mandalay Region Rice Merchants Association U Sai Kyaw said the domestic consumption of rice is lower than the supply volume in Myanmar.
“We are concerned about possible skyrocketing price of rice as people are purchasing excess amount commodities, including rice,” he said.
According to the figures of 2018 and 2019, the local demand of rice was only 13 million tonnes, but the paddy production of the country was around double to this amount.
U Sai Kyaw added that his association will supply the demand at regular prices to address shortage of the consumer crop, giving an example of their association in dealing with paddy scarcity after the damage of cultivation lands due to heavy floods in 2015.
A local rice merchant also remarked a large volume of rice have accumulated and there will not be out of stock despite high demand in the market.—MNA (Translated by Aung Khin)
