President instructs to provide loans to two major state banks to purchase paddy

The officials pointed out that the institution had incurred a huge loss due to the fact that not a single grain of rice had been purchased under the previous government in 2017 and 2019 and the stocks of paddy that could be consumed were treated as animal feed and given to a few private sector entrepreneurs at a very low price.

Duminda Priyadarshana, Vice Chairman of the Paddy Marketing Board, said that the price of a kilo of paddy has increased to Rs. 95 by the Maha Season 2022 and therefore, a large stock of paddy has been purchased and stored.