• Shortage talk after panic buying dismissed

Former State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe yesterday (14) assured that there wouldn’t be any rice shortage in the country and asked the public not to panic. He told The Sunday Morning that the Government had already taken measures to ensure an uninterrupted supply of all essential items including rice to the market. The former State Minister however accused the Opposition political parties of spreading false rumours to gain political mileage using the current situation. In addition, he stressed that the rice stocks were currently in state storage with the harvesting of the Maha Season and therefore, there wouldn’t be any shortage due to the current coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. According to the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB), the Government had purchased 15,969 metric tonnes of paddy and these purchases had been made at the government-certified price of Rs 50. These statements were made by Semasinghe following an artificial rice shortage that was created on Thursday (12) and Friday (13) as the supermarkets and shops ran dry. This was following panic buying by the general public amid fears of a Covid-19 breakout in the country, following the announcement of the second Sri Lankan patient testing positive for the coronavirus.