Badanas And The Ministry Of Trade Compactly Denies Indonesia's Most Mahal Rice Prices In ASEAN

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan and Head of Badanas Arief Prasetyo Adi. (Photo: VOI/Mery Handayani)

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) and the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) denied the World Bank or World Bank's report that rice prices in Indonesia are the most expensive compared to ASEAN countries.

Head of Bapanas Arief Prasetyo Adi said that rice prices in Indonesia are not the highest compared to other countries in ASEAN and are in accordance with people's purchasing power.

"Yesterday we confirmed that we were not the highest in ASEAN. Then compared to other countries," he said while visiting modern retailers in Bogor, West Java, Friday, December 23.

According to Arief, as long as people's purchasing power is able to buy and the price is affordable, it shouldn't be a problem.

"As long as the price of rice can be affordable and can be bought by the public like today. There is no problem. After all, we will protect the inflation," he said.

Meanwhile, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan also denied that domestic rice prices were the most expensive compared to other countries.

"No. Who said? No. You checked the price on Google in Singapore," he said.

For your information, the World Bank or World Bank recorded the highest retail price of rice in Indonesia compared to rice prices in other ASEAN countries.

The data is shown in the World Bank Indonesia Economic Prospect (IEP) Report in December 2022 regarding the risks that are important to manage related to the surge in food prices in Indonesia.

In the report, the World Bank assesses that the Indonesian people pay a higher basic price, especially rice compared to countries in ASEAN. Meanwhile, affordability is still a challenge for Indonesian consumers.