Dhaka: Food Minister Afroza Khanam on Thursday announced that Bangladesh is not facing any food grain shortage, with government warehouses currently holding significantly more stocks than the required security reserve. She made this statement in a written response to a query from opposition Jamaat-e-Islami MP Md Mashiur Rahman Khan in Parliament.
According to United News of Bangladesh, government warehouses were stocked with 2,437,807 metric tonnes of food grain as of August 30. The Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (FPMC) had earlier set a food security threshold of 1.4 million metric tonnes during regular periods and 1.5 million tonnes during emergencies. Afroza cited the Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Food Outlook, noting that Bangladesh's rice consumption is projected at 42.3 million metric tonnes for the fiscal year 2025-26, with a total supply of 43.652 million tonnes.
The supply of rice comprises 42.467 million tonnes from local production and 1.285 million tonnes from imports. The FAO's report also indicated that wheat demand for the same fiscal year was 8.2 million tonnes, against a total supply of 8.367 million tonnes, with domestic production providing 1.029 million tonnes and imports contributing 7.338 million tonnes. Afroza further mentioned that the projected demand for rice and wheat for the 2026-27 fiscal year stands at 42.6 million tonnes and 8.3 million tonnes respectively, and the government, along with the private sector, is aligning imports with demand to maintain supply stability and market price equilibrium.
In other news, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury addressed Parliament, highlighting a significant increase in remittance inflows for the fiscal year 2025-26. Responding to a question from reserved women's seat MP Nilofer Chowdhury Moni, he revealed that Bangladesh received $35,589.39 million ($35.6 billion) in remittances in FY26, marking a rise of $5,261 million ($5.3 billion) from the $30,328.81 million ($30.3 billion) recorded in FY25.
Saudi Arabia emerged as the largest source of remittances, increasing from $4,264.36 million to $5,848.87 million, followed by the UK, where inflows rose from $3,168.59 million to $5,071.99 million. Meanwhile, remittances from the UAE increased from $4,168.17 million to $4,583.91 million, and Malaysia saw a rise from $2,804.82 million to $3,403.65 million. Conversely, the United States experienced a sharp decline of about 35.9 percent, with remittances dropping from $4,733.13 million in FY25 to $3,033.15 million in FY26, and Canada recorded a nearly 50 percent decrease, with remittances falling from $220.98 million to $110.55 million.