The Paddy Marketing Board has purchased 45,362 metric tonnes of paddy under the government’s paddy purchasing programme for the Yala season, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said today (25).
Speaking at the weekly cabinet media briefing, the Minister said the figure had been recorded up to August 23.
He said the government had initially planned to purchase 39,500 metric tonnes of paddy and had opened 143 purchasing centres for the programme.
However, the Paddy Marketing Board has already exceeded the initial purchasing target, with the government spending approximately Rs. 5.471 billion on the purchases so far.
Minister Jayatissa further said the government had provided Rs. 10 billion in pledge loans, while Rs. 6 billion had been allocated to the Paddy Marketing Board for paddy purchases.
He added that District Secretaries had also been provided with funds required for paddy purchasing, with up to Rs. 25 million allocated per individual for this purpose.
