Ombudsman Says In The Last Two Weeks There Has Been A Reduction In Panic Buying Of Cooking Oil

Yeka Hendra Fatika/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - RI Ombudsman member Yeka Hendra Fatika concluded that in the last two weeks, panic buying or "panic buying" of cooking oil has decreased compared to before.

"What we can conclude is that 'panic buying' has decreased in two weeks compared to the previous one," Yeka said during a virtual press conference entitled "Still Rare Cooking Oil", Tuesday, February 22.

In addition, the Ombudsman found that the price of cooking oil in modern retail has a relatively high level of compliance with the Highest Retail Price (HET).

"This is because it is easy to intervene, so prices in modern retail have a high level of compliance. Don't let the case of rice happen, where prices in traditional markets are higher than in modern retail," Yeka said.

Nevertheless, Yeka said that the availability of cooking oil is still scarce or limited, both in modern retail and in traditional markets.

"The point is, overall, the availability of this cooking oil is still scarce," said Yeka.

In addition, the Ombudsman found the practice of price bundling at several points in the region.

Finally, there are still many supply restrictions, which have an impact on the availability of supply at retail to be limited.

It is known, the Ombudsman through the representative office in the region made observations on the stock price of cooking oil in the last two weeks.

Observations were made after the government issued a regulation regarding HET accompanied by domestic market obligation (DMO) and domestic price obligation (DPO) policies.