The Government Ensures That Rice Prices And Stocks Will Be Safe During Ramadan 2024

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government ensures that the supply of rice stocks ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in 2024 will be safe and fulfilled, even the price is predicted to decrease because rice stocks are abundant because they have entered the main harvest period.

Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso said that in mid-March 2024 the rice stock would be safe. This is because the government is also doing rice imports and there will be a big harvest.

"The rice guaranteed by mid-March it must be very safe, (Ramadhan) very safe, later the harvest will arrive and then the realization of this import will be massive," said Susiwijono when met at the CNBC Indonesia Economic Outlook 2024 event in Jakarta, Thursday, February 29, 2024.

Susiwijono added that based on market law, if supply is abundant, while the demand is small so that prices will fall and when the harvest in March 2024 has been implemented, the Government will immediately disburse rice supplies to all regions.

"Once the stock is high, the market law will definitely drop prices and all the supplies will be disbursed," he said.

According to Susiwijono, with abundant rice stocks, food inflation or volatile food will decrease. It is known, volatile food inflation in January 2024 increased to 7.22 percent, an increase from the position in December 2023 which was 6.73 percent.

Meanwhile, volatile food inflation rose sharply due to rice stocks that fell due to the late harvest season due to the El Nino phenomenon.

"The government believes that in March everything will run. Starting from harvest, maybe in mid-March," he said.

According to Susiwijono, the main problem of rare and expensive rice in modern retail is due to shifting the planting period and harvest period. Where should the planting period be carried out in September 2023, but it will be postponed to December 2023 due to climate change.

Therefore, the postponement of the planting period also affects the rice harvest period which should have been harvested in February and early March 2024, now it is predicted that the main harvest will begin in mid-March 2024. In addition, at least the domestic rice stock is also caused by late imports of incoming rice.

"This plant and harvest will affect supply and supply. So, the key to the basic commodity problems are two, namely supply and price. For those with rice, the domestic supply is late, the realization of imports has not yet arrived, there are still many on the road," he concluded.