Rare And Expensive Premium Rice, Trade Minister Reveals The Culprit

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan or Zulhas has not shown that there is currently a price spike and the scarcity of premium rice, especially in modern retailers. In fact, the price is already above the highest retail price (HET).

This was conveyed by Zulhas during his visit at the modern retailer Transmart Mall Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, Monday, February 19.

Zulhas said the price of premium rice has reached the range of Rp. 72,000 to Rp. 80,000 per 5 kg. Meanwhile, the HET of premium rice is Rp. 69,500 per kg.

I checked the price of rice. In the modern retail market, the supplier for premium prices has gone up. So some modern retailers don't take it, because the purchase is already above the HET. Some retailers still take the sale above HET," he said at Trasmart Mall Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, Monday, February 19.

Zulhas also revealed the reason why premium rice prices are rising in the market today. He said, this price increase was influenced by supply (supply) and demand (demand). Where, supply cannot meet the existing demand.

In addition, Zulhas said Indonesia also experienced the phenomenon of El Nino which caused the planting and harvesting period to be delayed. This phenomenon, continued Zulhas, also affects existing supplies.

Why did the price of premium rice go up? About supply and demand. Earlier, most of them thought, "Sir, after the election, the goods went up. After the election, the goods went up," he said.

Seeing this condition, continued Zulhas, the government also took steps by accelerating the distribution of rice market operations or Stabilization of Supply and Food Prices (SPHP) through Perum Bulog.

The government took a solution to speed up the SPHP rice from Bulog. We saw the SPHP, right, that's the price of course the subsidy price. He sold it for 5kg Rp. 54,000. There is already a profit in it," he said.

According to Zulhas, because the price of SPHP rice is stable and the supply is guaranteed by the government, many people have switched from premium rice to SPHP.

Karena premiumnya naik pindah SPHP, akhirnya SPHP cepat habis. Jadi di sini ada kurang, ada yang masih ada, ada yang kurang. Ini yang nanti yang akan kita rapatkan. Sehingga nanti supplynya bisa ditambah, jelasnya.