Authority the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense of Panama has confirmed that rice prices to the consumer have raised during last eight months. At the moment, consumers must pay between 38 and 40 hundredth by pound of rice, whereas farmers have announced who due to the increase in the production costs, prices will raise until about 48 hundredth by pound, approximately. In Panama 477 thousand QM of rice are consumed monthly and it is expected to import a total of 1,6 million QM during the 2007.