Bangladesh has increased regulatory duty on rice import to 25 percent from the existing 3 percent amid drastic fall in rice prices in the country.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a circular in this regard on Wednesday (May 22) with immediate effect, reports UNB.
It also said that importers have to pay 5 percent advance income tax.
With the latest development, importers now have to count a total of 55 percent tax and duty on rice.
Some 330,000 metric tonnes of rice have been imported in 10 months of the 2018-19 fiscal year, the news agency quoted NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.
Farmers are being forced to sell their rice at a price lower than their production cost due to imports, according to him.
The decision to raise the import tax and duty has been taken considering the huge losses being incurred by farmers, the report quoted the NBR chief.