DHAKA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite strained relations with Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Bangladeshi government said Monday that it will import 100,000 tons of rice from its southeastern neighbor.
Bangladeshi Food Minister Qamrul Islam made the announcement in a press briefing in the capital of Dhaka.
The purchase will be made at 442 U.S. dollars per ton, he said.
Bangladesh last month decided to cut import duty on rice further to 2 percent in a bid to rein the instability in prices of the staple food item amid flash floods.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh since a renewed violence erupted on Aug. 25 after dozens of police and border outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine state allegedly came under attack by armed groups.
Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu Monday said that Dhaka will continue normal relationship with neighboring Myanmar until they cut the diplomatic ties.
"Regular bilateral trade and commerce relations will be continued until Myanmar cut the diplomatic ties," he said.
Price hike of food items particularly staple rice is a key concern for the Bangladeshi government as nearly 31.5 percent of its around 160 million population still live below the national poverty line and spend a large part of their incomes on food purchase.
Flash Flood struck the country's northeastern region in March, causing huge loss of boro (winter) rice. Apart from this, rice blast disease has also affected boro rice production elsewhere in the country.
Against such circumstances, prices are seen rising in the short term on a supply shortage.
