Anticipating Sugar Price Hike, Airlangga: Bulog Will Supply 51,300 Tons

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has warned his assistants about the threat of a food crisis, which is looming behind the corona virus pandemic or COVID-19. Long before the warning, even before the discovery of positive cases of this new type of virus, people were already troubled by the scarcity and high price of sugar. Sugar has become a rare item since the beginning of the year.

Responding to this, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said the government had prepared steps to overcome the shortage of sugar stocks. Meanwhile, the need for sugar in the March-April period is estimated at 302,000 tons.

Airlangga explained, Perum Bulog will supply 51,300 tons of sugar to meet the needs of the domestic market during this Ramadan. The supply comes from imports and domestic production.

Of the procurement contracted by Bulog, 21,000 tonnes were imported products and 29,000 tonnes were domestically produced.

However, Bulog's procurement has not met the demand for sugar. Thus, Refined Crystal Sugar (GKR) which was previously used for industry was converted into the consumption market. Currently, the issue of distribution and packaging permits is currently being resolved.

"Then the transfer from refined sugar amounted to 191,762 tons and this is a matter of repackaging and distribution permits, so that 182,762 tons will enter the market," he said, after a limited meeting on anticipating basic needs with President Joko Widodo via video conference, Tuesday, April 28.

There are also sugar stocks that are still in sugar mills, both government and private, amounting to 47,772 tons. This figure will still increase from the mills which are still in process of 42,702 tons.

"The government will watch and oversee this sugar so that it can be issued to areas that are in need, especially in 30 provinces. Later we will monitor it weekly and the government has assigned the food task force to guard these commodities," he said.

Previously, President Jokowi said that there were a number of food commodities that were predicted to experience a deficit. One of them is sugar, which is predicted to have a deficit in 30 provinces.