Japan aims to drastically cut stockpiled rice prices to 2,000 yen ($14) per 5 kg and speed up getting rice onto shop shelves as consumers suffer from sky-high staple grain costs, the farm ministry said on Monday.
Surging rice prices, due in part to crop damage from extreme heat and increasing demand from tourism, are a serious concern for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government with its public approval rating stuck around a record low ahead of an upper house election in July.
The government will sell 300,000 metric tons of stockpiled rice via discretionary contracts to retailers, the farm ministry said, after new Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi pledged last week to quickly move rice to store.
To help bring down the prices, the government will also cover transportation costs so that stockpiled rice will be on retail shelves in early June at around 2,000 yen, which would be about half the average rice price at supermarkets.
Japan will consider selling stockpiled rice beyond retailers depending on the situation.
"The price of rice has about doubled compared to last year. We felt continuing the same way as before would not meet the people's expectations," Koizumi told his new team of farm ministry officials who handle the rice price issue.
"We will dispel the public concerns about rice prices with even greater speed and a greater sense of urgency," he said.
On Friday, Koizumi met with Rakuten Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, who said the online retail giant was prepared to support the government's efforts.
The government's stockpiling policy requires it to purchase the same amount released at a later date, but the nation decided not to buy back as the repurchase system could keep prices higher.
In March, the government released stockpiled rice through two auctions for 210,000 metric tons to ease soaring rice prices. But only about 7.0% reached retailers as of late April because the distribution system was multi-layered and time-consuming.
($1 = 142.3200 yen)
