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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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CWE selling wheat flour at Rs. 25 per kilo by Anura Maitipe The free importation of wheat flour would save Rs. 5000 million annually while fulfilling the current shortage of wheat flour in the market, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle told the Sunday Observer. He said "that monthly wheat flour production of Prima Company could not meet the prevailing country demand and this had created severe scarcity of wheat flour in the market with the sudden price hike. A few days ago, it stood at Rs. 28 but now it is Rs. 31.50 per kilo". The Government had taken initiatives to nullify the market monopoly of Prima Lanka Limited. While empowering Ministry of Trade and Commerce to make direct intervention in the import of wheat flour, the Ministry had already imported 25 metric tones of wheat flour, the Minister emphasised. This would be sold at Rs. 25 per kilo whereas flour manufactured in Sri Lanka is sold at Rs. 31.50 with all concessions offered by the Government. The consumers could purchase wheat flour at Rs. 25 per kilo from all multi-purpose co-operatives and retail outlets of the CWE in any part of the island, the Minister said As per agreement signed by previous government with the Prima management, the government had to pay Rs. 7.50 for every kilo of flour sold by Prima and this has to be paid out of public money, he noted. The Prima Company kept on increasing price of flour by creating artificial scarcity of wheat flour in the market. And at the end of the year it draws an amount of Rs. 5,000 million from the State coffer to cover its pledge losses due to sales of flour on subsidised prices, the Minister pointed out. The annual demand for flour in Sri Lanka is around 50,000 metric tonnes and our ministry is in the position to meet this demand. We have already made arrangements to import flour from Ukraine, Argentina and Turkey under concessionary rates and storage facilities are available at Maligawatta as well as in all stores of Co-operative Societies and the CWE, he added. |
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