Indonesia, World's Largest Palm Oil Producer, Experienced Rare Cooking Oil, Prabowo Says: "It's Strange!"

President Prabowo Subianto (photo: screenshot of Youtube Setpres)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto expressed his astonishment at the cooking oil shortage that occurred in Indonesia, despite being the world's largest palm oil producer.

"It's truly strange that the country with the largest palm oil production in the world is experiencing a cooking oil shortage. This is truly bizarre, illogical, and it turns out there's a manipulation game I call Serakahnomics," he said at the 2025 Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Joint Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Friday, August 15th.

"The world's largest palm oil producer has had a shortage of palm oil for weeks, almost months," he added.

He explained that the shortage was not caused by limited production, but rather by a handful of businessmen manipulating the market to maximize their own profits.

In addition to the cooking oil issue, Prabowo also touched on the issue of persistently high food prices, despite the government providing various subsidies for fertilizers, agricultural equipment, and rice.

"It's also truly strange: we subsidize fertilizer, agricultural equipment, pesticides, irrigation, reservoirs, and rice, yet food prices are sometimes unaffordable for some of our people. These oddities occur because there are distortions in our economic system, irregularities," he said.

He believes these irregularities are caused by the economic system mandated by the 1945 Constitution, particularly Article 33 paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, being ignored in national development practices.

"After studying it in depth, I'm convinced that the 1945 Constitution, especially the safeguards articles like Article 33, are the bulwark of our economic defense," he said.