Market Traders Complain That It Is Difficult To Get Premium Rice, Badanas Says This

Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo admitted that it is very open if market traders want to help sell premium rice or government commercial rice.

However, in the process of ordering it to Bulog, the system must be paid in full, aka no debt.

Arief's statement also responded to the Indonesian Market Traders Association (IKAPPI) which admitted that it was still difficult to get premium rice for sale.

Bulog has a policy called a deposit order for the payment method. If traders usually like it with 1 bon, 2 bon, 3 bon, it means they have to be capitalized first and then paid. Meanwhile, in Bulog, the system is paid first and then sent," said Arief after the CNBC Indonesia Economic Outlook 2024 event in Jakarta, Thursday, February 29.

Furthermore, Arief said, if traders remain interested and want to participate in selling government premium rice or SPHP rice, they must sell it according to the highest retail price (HET) set by the government, which is IDR 10,950 per kilogram (kg).

"I have conveyed to IKAPPI if you want to help with the distribution, I am happy, but as long as he wants to sell it at a price of Rp. 10,950 because the profit is very thin, not high," explained Arief.

For your information, previously IKAPPI said that market traders still have difficulty getting premium rice. This is because the premium rice stock is limited.

Due to these conditions, rice milling companies are also limited in distributing premium rice to market traders.