Two Weeks Of SPHP Distribution Not Able To Press Rice Prices In The Market

JAKARTA - It has been two weeks since the government returned to distributing subsidized rice through the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program, but the price of rice in the market has yet to show a significant decline.

Based on data from the panel of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) as of July 30, 2025 at 16.00 WIB, rice prices, both premium and medium types, are still above the Highest Retail Price (HET) set by the government.

For premium rice, nationally the HET is IDR 14,900 per kilogram (kg). However, the market price still exceeds this limit in all zones:

Zone I : HET Rp 14,900/kg, market price Rp 15,496/kgZona II : HET Rp 15,400/kg, market price Rp 16,589/kgZona III: HET Rp 15,800/kg, market price Rp 18,369/kg

Meanwhile, for medium-type rice, similar conditions also occur:

Zone I : HET Rp 12,500/kg, market price Rp 13,937/kgZona II : HET Rp 13,100/kg, market price Rp 14,614/kgZona III: HET Rp 13,500/kg, market price Rp 16,826/kg

The government has prepared 1.5 million tons of SPHP rice distributed to markets, Village Cooperatives (Kopdes) Merah Putih, and Food SOEs. The distribution of subsidized rice is expected to be able to reduce the high price of rice in the market.

The Government To The Food Task Force Urges To Lower Rice Prices

The government asks all foreign exchange business actors to lower rice prices according to HET. Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman hopes that rice prices will fall within a week or two.

"We have prepared 1.3 million tons of rice (SPHP). We are sure that in the next 1-2 weeks the price of rice will have dropped," he said while visiting a low-cost food operation in Majene, West Sulawesi, Sunday, July 20.

Meanwhile, Bapanas appealed to retail business actors to continue to distribute premium rice stocks that were found not according to quality standards to consumers, but price adjustments were carried out. This step was taken to prevent supply vacancies in the field and maintain affordability for the community.

"This step is so that it doesn't go short in the field. These rice is still good, only it doesn't match the content with the packaging. So the price must be lowered according to the contents in it. From our joint observations, checking in the field, the price was lowered by around Rp. 1,000," said Head of Badanas, Arief Prasetyo Adi in a written statement Tuesday, July 29.

The appeal was contained in a letter numbered 589/TS.02.02/B/07/2025 submitted by Bapanas through the Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilization to the Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo) as of July 25, 2025.

"So the rice that has been on sale, which is already on the shelves, is already in the market, it's not being withdrawn, because if it is withdrawn, later there will be a vacancy. People want to buy it, so it's difficult. The quality of these rice is still good, only the broken is high. Well, we ask for the price to be adjusted. So customers can still buy rice according to the quality," explained Arief.

The same thing was conveyed by the Head of the National Police's Food Task Force, Brigadier General Pol Helfi Assegaf, who asked that the price of rice be lowered even though it had revealed a number of producers who were proven to have mixed and confiscated 201 tons of premium-type mixed rice.