The Government started in late December the release of about 150 000 tonnes of paddy rice to millers, which will be then sold at reduced prices, after milling, via government-owned retail company Lanka Sathosa. There are also plans to import 250 000 tonnes of rice in the first quarter of 2017 through the private sector. Price controls on imported rice and tax concessions on rice imports are under discussion. These measures aim to improve market availabilities and ease prices of rice, which have increased considerably in the last quarter of 2016, due to a sharp reduction of the 2016 secondary Yala harvest and increasing concerns over the main 2017 Maha crop, to be harvested from March, due to below-average rains since the start of the season.