DECREASE IN PRICE OF RICE ANNOUNCED
April 22, 2010

The controlled price of rice has gone down. As of today the retail maximum price of rice is ten cents less countrywide. It is also important to note that anyone found guilty of selling above the controlled price is in violation of the Supplies Control Regulation Chapter 293 of the laws of Belize and is subject to a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars. Those in violation could also face six months in jail.

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The price of rice reduces

It’s a staple on almost every Belizean dinner table and when the price of rice shot up two years ago from a dollar a pound to around one-thirty-five, some restaurants also jacked up the price of the meals. But lower production costs coupled with fierce competition among producers has compelled a notable decrease in the cost of this favourite staple. New stocks of rice should now sell for a dollar and fifteen cents per pound in Belize City, which according to the Belize Bureau of Standards means that whatever the price you are paying right now should go down by about twenty cents per pound.

Via Phone: José Trejo, Controller of Supplies, Belize Bureau of Standards

“The prices went down across the districts, both the wholesale and the retail level. Remember that the rice sells by hundred pounds and it sells by pound, individual units and Belize City is a hundred and five dollars per hundred pounds, putting it at one-fifteen at the retail level in that municipality. And the lowest price that we’re looking at—actually that is the lowest price across municipalities with the highest being in San Pedro and Punta Gorda and that’s due to distribution that one has to take into consideration for these municipalities. Like we say we’re looking at Belize City at one-o-five, Belmopan one-o-six, san Ignacio one-o-five, Benque one-o-six, Dangriga one-o-seven, Punta Gorda one-o-eight, Orange Walk one-o-five, Corozal one-o-six and San Pedro one-o-eight and that’s all for a hundred pound sack”

Delahnie Bain

“What brought on this decrease in the price?”

Via Phone: José Trejo

“Well there has been a decrease in cost in inputs. The major producers up north have experienced some lower production costs and it has become quite competitive out in the marketplace and actually competition allows for prices to go down a bit. So those were some of the contributing factors to the decrease in the price of rice.”

If you detect any price gouging you’re invited to report it at the Belize Bureau of Standards hotline at 0800-283-5587, their office at 822-0446, email them at bbs@btl.net and you can even find them on Facebook.

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