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| A woman cleans rice before packing the commodity into sacks for clients at a rice market on the outskirts of Rangoon. (Photo: Getty Images) |
In response to the steep rise in rice prices on the domestic market, the Burmese government is restricting the flow of black market rice to border areas, said an official of the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders Association (MRPTA).
The Ministry of Commerce issued an official order in February suspending rice exports and promising to take action against those engaged in the illegal rice trade at the border.
"In order to transport rice from one town to another, you must provide the security checkpoints with verification approved by the Township Rice and Paddy Traders Association. Otherwise you must turn back to the place you came from. Tight security has been imposed to check any illegal rice trade along the way to the border,” the official from the MRPTA told The Irrawaddy.
If someone repeatedly attempts to breach the ban, he or she will face prison terms for violation of existing laws, sources said.
“Our neighboring countries need rice. If illegal rice to border areas is on high demand, the price of rice in the domestic market can be hiked. So it is just a precaution,” said the MRTPA official.
Rumors about a massive civil servant salary increase, regulations on truck load limits, rumors about power struggles among the Burmese regime's top brass and price increases for gold, US dollars and fuel all contributed to the increase in the price of rice in February.
A 108-lb broken-rice pack increased to 12,500 kyat (US $14.10) from the previous price of 11,000 kyat ($ 2.47). Zeya (medium quality rice) is now 16,500 kyat ($18.70), up from 15,000 kyat ($ 17.00). And Shwebo Pawsan (good quality rice) is now 36,500 kyat ($41.38), an increase from 31,000 Kyat ($35.14). All figures are according to traders in the Burmese rice market.
The price of paddy is also rising. 100 baskets of substandard paddy is now 400,000 kyat ($453.50). Good quality paddy is now about 800,000 kyat ($907) and is projected to rise as high as 1,000,000 kyat ($1,133.78), according to speculators in the rice market.
“When the remaining paddy and rice are gone the price of rice and paddy will again be increased. If the salary of public servants is increased in April, we will see a new record in the price of rice in our market,” said the owner of a rice mill in Pyarpone Township.
An economist inside Burma pointed out that given the regime's absolute control of the market, which facilitates a blooming black market, price instability is high.
“When a government is involved in managing rice prices, if the merchandisers play the rice market, the government can interfere with them by importing rice from abroad. The government should subsidize the people too. There are so many ways the government can help people, such as providing financial assistance and giving out small interest loans. But you can't use power to control the market,” the economist said.
Citing data from the MRPTA, an official said that Burma has grown paddy on over 20 million farming acres which produces 1.5 billion baskets of paddy annually. Burma requires 1 billion baskets of paddy, or 318 million baskets of rice, to feed its population of 53 million. This means an average person consumes 200 kg of rice, or 6 baskets, per year.
Within the last week, the fuel price in Burma has also increased to 5,000 kyat ($5.67) per gallon from 3,000 kyat ($3.40).
"It is such a waste of time to stay in a long queue for fuel at a gas station. Then the gas stations sell their fuel to the black markets and tell the ordinary customers they have run out of fuel. A quarter-gallon of fuel is now 1,300 kyat ($1.47) on the black market, so it means a gallon becomes 5,200 kyat ($5.90),” said a Mandalay resident.
A resident of Monywa, a trading city in central Burma, told The Irrawaddy that the bus fare from Mandalay to Monywa has increased recently from 1,700 kyat ($1.93) to 2,500 kyat ($2.83) because of the current fuel price hike.
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