India halts rice exports to slow inflation

New Delhi -- The Indian government announced a rice-export ban Tuesday to combat inflationary food prices.

The ban extends to all varieties except basmati rice, the BBC reported. But the price of the fragrant basmati rice has been raised to $1,200 per metric ton to discourage basmati export as well, the report said.

India is the world's third largest exporter of rice and the move could affect prices of the staple worldwide.

The price of most rice escalated from $650 to $1,000 a metric ton in March.

In a complimentary move, the government halted its import duty for cooking oils.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.