A Finance Ministry senior spokesperson said that if an emergency election is held this year, the government will lose money even to buy paddy in the next Season.
He said that if it is not possible to buy paddy, there is a risk of the paddy market collapsing again.
He also emphasized that due to this situation, only the private sector may buy paddy and the farmer will be in a helpless situation and the price will drop rapidly.
The Agriculture Department has predicted that a good harvest of paddy will be obtained in the early season and the rice yield in the main season may increase.
In such a situation, if the government is unable to set a guaranteed price for paddy and buy it, the paddy market will collapse. The Finance Ministry spokesperson also mentioned that due to the creation of a rice monopoly, there is a risk of rice prices rising. He also mentioned that the government expects to harvest 800,000 hectares of paddy during the Maha Season, and the government expects to purchase three million metric tons of paddy from the resulting harvest.
The Ministry of Finance also says that an amount of Rs.2,000 million will have to be spent for that and if an emergency election is held, the above amount will not be able to be used for purchasing rice. The Elections Commission has requested Rs.12 billion for the election and the Finance Ministry is of the opinion that the amount may increase.
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