Govt To Step Up Rice Market Operations

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Indonesian government will soon intensify market operations to stabilize the rice prices nationally after these showed an upward trend over the past month.

"What is clear is that the price of rice did not increase by more than two percent," the Director General of Domestic Trade at the Trade Ministry, Srie Agustina, said here on Monday.  

Rice prices are currently hovering at around Rp10,000 per kilogram.

To stabilize the prices of the staple food, the government has been conducting market operations since last Friday (September 25) through the warehouses of state logistics agency (Bulog), she said.

Based on data from the basic commodity market monitoring team of the Trade Ministry, the price of medium-class rice had reached Rp10,330 per kilogram on Monday (Sept 28). Last Saturday (Sept 26), the price was Rp10,003 per kilogram.

Over the past one month, national rice prices hovered around Rp10,000 per kilogram but hit a one-month record high of Rp10,330 per kilogram on Monday.

During his visit to Karawang district, West Java, recently,  President Joko Widodo said rice stocks at the national logistics board (Bulog) were still adequate and the government had no plans to import the commodity.

The government's rice reserves are currently recorded at 1.7 million tons. The figure will continue to rise with the harvest time approaching in October and November, the President said. (WDY)