The Minister Of Home Affairs Calls Imports A Reason For Cheap Singapore Rice Prices

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian when delivering his presentation at the Food Supply and Safety Coordination Meeting Ahead of Fasting and Eid al-Fitr in Jakarta, Monday (4/3/2024) (ANTARA/Bayu Saputra)

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian revealed that overall rice imports are the reason Singapore's rice prices are one of the cheapest.

Singapore is not a producing country, but a country that focuses on consumption in terms of rice. Singapore brings in a lot of rice from Thailand, Pakistan and Vietnam.

"He (Singapore) doesn't have food, doesn't produce any food, all imports are different strategies. In Singapore, how can prices be as low as possible because producers are not them," Tito said at the Food Supply and Price Security Coordination Meeting Ahead of Fasting and Eid reported by ANTARA, Monday, March 4.

The retail price of rice in Singapore in 2024 was recorded at 1.06 Singapore dollars per kilogram (kg) or around Rp. 12,324 per kg. wholesale was recorded at 0.48 Singapore dollars per kg or Rp. 8,580 per kg.

According to Tito, the low price of rice in Singapore is due to the Singapore government, which does not need to adjust to the price at the farmer level as a producer.

Unlike Indonesia, which acts as a producing country, the government cannot arbitrarily bring in imported rice so that it does not harm domestic farmers.

But on the other hand, this situation sometimes actually harms the community as consumers because the price of rice is considered higher.

"We (Indonesia) don't, if it's very cheap, sorry for the farmers and other producers, including entrepreneurs who also produce," he explained.

Therefore, Tito continued, the government is currently trying to find a fair balance of rice prices between producers and consumers so that they both benefit both parties. "We have to balance both," he concluded.

Previously, Perum Bulog stated that there were additional import contracts of 300 thousand tons of rice from Thailand and Pakistan to strengthen national food stocks, especially facing Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 1445 Hijri.

Bulog Bayu President Director Krisnamurthi said the 300 thousand tons of rice were still on its way to Indonesia and would increase the stock in Bulog's warehouse, which is currently recorded at 1.3 million tons.

As of March 4, 2024, based on the food price panel of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), the price of medium rice in Indonesia was recorded to have increased by 0.14 percent to Rp14,390 per kilogram (kg) and premium rice rose 0.67 percent to Rp16,570 per kg.