The Minister Of Trade Calls The Difficulty Of Rice Imports Not Being An Obstacle

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan/ Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan ensured that Indonesia's difficulty in importing rice from a number of countries was not an obstacle to meeting the needs of the community considering that the current national rice stock was still safe.

"We have a lot of stock (rice), there are 1.6 million tons, don't worry," said Zulkifli, quoted from Antara, Sunday, September 17.

According to the Trade Minister, in addition to the stock of 1.6 million tons of rice in the warehouse, currently there are 400 thousand tons of rice still on the way.

However, he did not deny that additional imported rice was still needed even though the supply is still safe.

"How much is needed, but the stock is 2 million tons (including an additional 400 tons) so it is safe," he said.

Because rice stocks are still abundant, according to Zulkifli, the government has the courage to massively distribute rice aid to the community with an allocation of 10 kilograms (kg) per head of the family (KK).

The government, he said, had allocated rice assistance with a target of 21 million families during the period September, October, November 2023.

"So there are a lot of rice, enough, therefore we share rice every big day," said the Trade Minister.

As reported, President Joko Widodo at the 60th Dies Natalis event of the Bogor Agricultural Institute, Friday (15/9) stated that there were 19 countries that limited food exports, one of which was India, which stopped rice exports and had an impact on rising rice prices in all countries.

The President said the 19 countries were limiting exports to ensure food availability in their respective countries.