"Three weeks ago, I asked (my) ministers to reduce the price of beef to below Rp80,000 per kilogram before the Eid al-Fitr or Lebaran this year. I do not know how they will do that," President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, stated here on Monday.
The head of state made the remarks while visiting the Yogyakarta-based campus of Muhammadiyah University.
In Indonesia, ahead of the Muslim Lebaran festivity, beef prices are hovering between Rp120,000 to Rp130,000 per kilogram and can even reach Rp150,000 per kilogram, that is twice the normal rates.
The president believes that if beef prices in other countries can be set below Rp80,000 kilogram, Indonesia should be able to do the same.
Citing an example, the president noted that beef prices in Singapore or Malaysia are in the range of Rp50,000 to Rp55,000 per kilogram in the retail market.
"If beef prices in other countries can be regulated to fall (within the purchasing power of the community), the same must also be done in Indonesia," the president pointed out.(WDY)
