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| Thailand to sell consumer-pack rice at lower price |
BANGKOK, May 10 (Xinhua) -- To meet demand for rice on domestic market, Thai Ministry of Commerce will soon prepare 200,000 five-kilogram bags of rice from state inventories for retail sale throughout the country, a senior ministry official said Saturday.
Internal Trade Department director-general Yanyong Phuangrach said the retail price of the consumer packs will be set at a level lower than the current market price, which now stands at between 150-160 baht (4.7-5 U.S. dollars) per pack, according to Thai News Agency.
The release is the second batch of rice the ministry has decided to package and put on sale in 5kg bags at lower price, as many stores and markets ran out of packaged rice stocks as consumers rushed to buy rice out of fear for a possible shortage and continuous price rising.
The Internal Trade Department will sell the first batch of 100,000 bags of low price rice from Monday, with 27,000 bags distributed to outlets in nine provinces and the remaining 73,000 bags in Bangkok. Each 5kg bag of rice will be sold at 120 baht (3.75 U.S. dollars).
Yanyong said the ministry will offer more consumer-pack rice in future if demand continues. He said the government will buy 1,500 metric tons of paddy directly from farmers at the market price to maintain its stock at 2.1 million tons.
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