Ruto’s Master Plan to Introduce Cheap Rice from Pakistan

President William Ruto’s administration has initiated plans with the Pakistani government to facilitate importation of cheap rice imported from Pakistan.

This comes after Kenya through the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) revised the customs valuation of Pakistani rice downward by 25% .

This decision will see Pakistan export rice to Kenya at  Kshs 59,417.90 per metric ton from Ksh 79,335 showing a sharp decline of Ksh19,995 per metric ton.

The decision of revising customs evaluation of Pakistani rice was influenced by global rice prices declining affected by shifting supply and demand trends.

Ruto’s Government to Allow Entry of Cheap Rice from Pakistan

The falling of Pakistani’s rice market value to about Ksh 51,600 per metric ton also prompted KRA to make the necessary correction to the valuation of Pakistan rice.

In addition to global trends of current rice prices and the current market value of Pakistan rice, talks between the Kenyan Government and the Pakistan government also led to the cutting of customs evaluation of Pakistan rice.

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Javed Jillani, an official from the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, voiced his concern that the current valuation of Pakistani rice is excessively high and does not align with market trends.

He discussed this issue with Adeela Younis, the Commercial Counselor at the Pakistani High Commission in Nairobi, urging her to take action to ensure fair pricing.

KRA Revises Custom Evaluation of Pakistan’s Rice

Following Jillani’s concerns, Adeela presented the issue to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which subsequently modified its valuation, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Pakistani rice exports.

Although the Kenyan government has revised its customs evaluation on Pakistani rice, the updated valuation, which reflects the current market conditions, will only be effective for 90 days.

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According to Rafique Suleman, Convener of REAP’s Kenya Committee REAP Chairman Javed Jillani and Ms. Adeela Younis, the Commercial Counselor at the High Commission for Pakistan in Nairobi, worked tirelessly to reduce the rice export valuation.

He emphasized the importance of Kenya as a major market for Pakistani rice and said that this price move will boost Pakistan’s rice exports, giving Kenya more foreign cash while also helping Pakistani exporters.

He added that by boosting export volumes, the new pricing system would improve trade ties between the two countries.

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