Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 11195064" data-attributes="member: 92282"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Flag_of_Sri_Lanka.svg/165px-Flag_of_Sri_Lanka.svg.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Flag_of_Somalia.svg/125px-Flag_of_Somalia.svg.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Sri Lanka has gifted 250 metric tonnes of rice to Somalia as domestic  production increased, economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa  said.                                This year no rice has been imported to the country, Rajapaksa told an 'investor's day' in Colombo Saturday. "Our paddy stores are now full," Rajapasksa said. "We have three seasons  of harvests. Up to now we have got rice from the World Food Program to  be given to refugees. "But last month President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) was able to gift 250  metric tonnes of rice produced by our farmers to Somalia, I am proud to  say." Sri Lanka's farmers cannot produce grades of rice that are  internationally traded and the country's rice prices have also been  above the rest of the rest of the world amid protectionist taxes. In recent years Sri Lanka has also blocked citizen's access to  alternative carbohydrates such as wheat and potatoes with high import  duties to push the population to eat domestic produce.                                                                      Sri Lanka has had  some of the highest prices for rice despite rice farmers being given  heavily subsidized fertilizer. Fertilizer subsidies cost the people  about 250 million dollars a year in taxes.                                 Analysts have warned that artificially high food prices would worsen malnutrition among the poor. But for several years Sri Lanka's rice prices have remained static  around 60 rupees a kilogram and world prices have caught up amid a  weakening US dollar. Sri Lanka has kept the rupee firmly pegged to the  US dollar for several years. LBO</blockquote>

Verification: Awruddata maasa keeyada?

Top Bottom