Badanas Boss Claims Distribution Of Effective Rice Aid Press Food Inflation

JAKARTA - The government has again distributed food aid in the form of 20 kilograms of rice to each beneficiary on Monday, July 14, 2025.

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Arief Prasetyo Adi, called this program an instrument that has proven effective in suppressing the rate of rice inflation in the country.

He explained that the previous rice aid program had had a significant impact on inflation control, especially during a price spike in September 2023, where rice inflation reached 5.61 percent.

However, thanks to the distribution of rice food assistance, this figure was successfully reduced to 0.48 percent in December 2023. The same thing happened again in 2024.

"As of February 2024, rice inflation was at the level of 5.32 percent and was the highest in that year. The rice food aid program was resumed until the allocation of 9 months. As a result, rice inflation in December 2024 could be controlled to 0.1 percent," he said in a written statement.

Entering 2025, the trend of inflation is again showing an increase. From 0.36 percent in January, the rice inflation rate rose to 1 percent in June. Seeing this condition, the government decided to roll out rice aid again in July as part of a price control strategy.

"For this reason, the re-distribution of rice food aid in July is considered to be an effective rice inflation control instrument, along with the rice Supply Stabilization and Food Price (SPHP) program," explained Arief.

Arief added, based on Bapanas data to date, 1,267 aid recipients have received rice, with a total distribution of 25,300 kilograms.

The distribution of aid this time is focused on the community in decile 1 to 7, referring to the database of the Targeting for the Acceleration of the Elimination of Extreme Poverty (PBP) from the National Sole Social Economy Data (DTSEN), according to Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 4 of 2025.

The technical implementation of the distribution of this assistance is carried out by Perum Bulog, which is given a special mandate to ensure distribution on time and on target.

"Hopefully this intervention program can reduce rice prices as well as support the economy of the people who really need the government's attention," he added.