Govt’s export deal to revive sinking rice sector: Shahid Rasheed Butt

Lahore: The government has made  4-year rice export deal with Indonesia which will bailout the troubled sector and stabilise prices at home.Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Butt has welcomed the decision and demanded more long and short term agreements with other countries to boost the rice sector which is facing problems since some tears.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that export of rice to Indonesia will boost overall exports to 4.6 million tonnes which will be a record for which credit goes to the government. Pakistan’s export forecast has recently been raised by 0.1m tonnes in the wake of a deal with Indonesia. He said that reasons behind crisis in rice sector include high production cost, too much focus of exporters on profit and availability of Indian rice on low rates. Local exporters want to sell rice at 950 to 1100 dollars per tonne while Indians offer prices as low as 720 to 850 per tonne because of the low production cost and hidden subsidies.

India’s move to sell basmati at lower prices had taken a toll on Pakistan’s exports but our exporters remained unwilling to bring down their prices, said Butt.

The veteran business leader said that Iran is another promising market where Pakistani rice is in great demand but payment mechanism continue to discourage exporters. He said that India will be a major competitor to Pakistan in the Iranian market for which exporters and government needs to make an effective strategy.