The Government announced the launch of the country-wide Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice from next week. OMS is a public food distribution programme, which sells rice and wheat at subsidized prices. The price was set at BDT 15 (USD 0.18) per kg and at a further subsidized level of BDT 10 (USD 0.12) per kg for 50 000 ultra-poor households. The measure follows other Government’s initiatives, including a significant reduction in import duties (FPMA Food Policies) and an increase in imports, aimed to stabilise market prices, which are currently well above their year-earlier values. The high level of prices reflects an overall tight supply situation, after 2017 main crop losses exacerbated the already tight domestic availabilities following reduced production and imports in 2016 (FPMA Domestic Price Warnings).