SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government will subsidise purchases of imported rice through Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) until the end of this year to ensure a stable supply in the state.
Bernama reported state infrastructure and public facilities committee chairman Izham Hashim as saying that the imported rice was being bought by the government at a price of RM17 per 5kg and resold to the people at RM13 per 5kg under the Jualan Ehsan Rakyat (JER) programme.
“Bernas is bringing in imported rice, which we are selling at the price of local white rice. That means we are subsidising it. We buy it for RM17 per 5kg and sell it at RM13, the ceiling price for local white rice,” he said.
“We have been repacking imported rice to be sold under the JER programme at four branches of the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation and through mobile sales since last week,” he told the media here today.
He said although the agriculture and food security ministry expected the supply of rice to be stable within the next two to three weeks, the state government was prepared to cover the subsidy for another two to three months to ensure supply would be truly sufficient.
