Minister Of Agriculture Believes Rice Prices Drop In Two Weeks
JAKARTA - The government has confirmed that rice prices will decline in the near future.
This belief was conveyed by the Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman when launching the Cheap Food Movement for Rice Stabilization of Supply and Food Prices (SPHP) at the Fatmawati Post Office, South Jakarta, Friday, July 18.
Amran said, the certainty of the price reduction was supported by the distribution of 1.3 million tons of SPHP rice which had just been disbursed gradually.
"The results of the Coordination Meeting are the first we release 360,000 tons for social assistance. The second is that we release the SPHP 1.3 million tons. All of Indonesia moves together. We are sure that 1-2 weeks the price of rice can go down," he said.
To speed up distribution, the government cooperates with the Bulog network, PT Pos Indonesia, ID Food, PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN, and Pupuk Indonesia Holding Company.
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"Thanks to the Food SOEs, there is the President Director of PTPN, there is the President Director of Bulog, ID Food, PIHC, and PT Pos at the forefront of mobilizing the SPHP. We hope this can be mobilized throughout Indonesia so that people enjoy good prices when production increases," said Amran.
Amran said that this cheap food movement was carried out at 5,302 points throughout Indonesia. SPHP rice is sold according to the highest retail price (HET), which is IDR 12,500 per kilogram (kg) for zone 1 which includes Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), and Sulawesi.
Zone 2, sold for IDR 13,100 per kg, covering Sumatra areas other than Lampung and South Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and Kalimantan. Then, for Zone 3 consisting of Maluku and Papua, the rice market is IDR 13,500 per kg.
Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture added that this policy was directed by President Prabowo Subianto so that the state was present to ensure food affordability. "Today we are operating a large-scale market. This anticipates that rice prices will fall, not rise when we have a lot of stock," he said.