DHAKA: Bangladesh's state grains buyer has issued a tender to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice in a bid to boost depleted reserves, amid a record surge in prices of the staple grain.

The deadline to submit offers is Jan. 24, with the parboiled rice to be shipped within 40 days of signing a contract, according to the tender document and officials at the purchasing agency.

Bangladesh's rice imports are likely to surge to two million tonnes in the 2020/21 financial year as local prices jumped to a record high on limited supplies, a senior government official told Reuters last week.

The state grains buyer has issued tenders to buy a total of 410,000 tonnes of rice since its first tender in three years in mid-November after floods destroyed the country's crop.

The country has also approved the purchase of 150,000 tonnes of rice from India's state-run firm NAFED in a government-to-government deal.