The government has decided to buy rice from abroad while reducing the import duty, as local millers refused to supply the staple at the agreed price.

“The government will import rice to keep the market stable,” the Ministry of Food said in a statement on Tuesday, citing Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder.

The minster had reiterated the government’s previous plan to import rice in case the millers refuse to supply the rice at the agreed price, despite a bumper harvest of paddy in the Boro season