Bulog Boss: Rice Prices Are Difficult To Return To Their Original Points Like Last Year

President Director of Perum Bulog Bayu Krisnamurthi (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - President Director of Perum Bulog Bayu Krisnamurti stated that the price of rice will be difficult to return to its original point like last year. Where the national average price of premium rice is priced at IDR 12,500 per kilogram (kg).

"According to our calculations, at Bulog the price will be difficult to return to its original point like a year ago," he said during a discussion on BUMN Spokes, at the BUMN Meteor Media Center, Jakarta, Monday, March 18.

The reason, said Bayu, is that the current price of grain production is very high. The labor wage is one of the contributors to the increase in the price of unhulled rice.

The labor wage, which is the cost of producing unhulled rice, has increased. UMR is increasing, meaning that later the informal labor wage will increase," said Bayu.

Not only labor wages, according to Bayu, the increase in land rental prices and fertilizer costs is also part of contributing to the increase in the price of grain production.

"With the international increase in fuel increases, fertilizers will also increase. So the production costs faced by farmers have increased," said Bayu.

"So I think we should also see it as a real factor and of course we are not happy, not happy to see it. But the facts are like that," he continued.

For your information, based on the National Food Agency (Bapanas) price panel Monday, March 18, the national average price of premium rice is IDR 16,350 per kg. When compared to last week there was a decline in the price of 0.37 percent or IDR 60 perak.

The highest price of premium rice is in Papua Province, the Mountains reached Rp. 23,610 per kg. Meanwhile, the price of the lowest premium rice is in South Sumatra Province at Rp. 14,500 per kg.

Meanwhile, the national average medium rice price is IDR 14,200 per kg. When compared to last week there was a decrease in the price of 0.63 percent or IDR 90 silver.

The highest price of medium rice is in Central Papua Province at IDR 17,510 per kg. Meanwhile, the lowest medium rice price is in South Kalimantan Province at IDR 12,290 per kg.