"The prices of this commodity in a number of markets have been going down. I will not issue a license for the importation of red onions because we still have a production surplus," the minister said on Tuesday.
He said the prices of red onions in a number markets in Jakarta such as at the Kramat Jati wholesale markets, ranged at between Rp16,000 and Rp20,000 per kilogram (kg).
The minister also asked the media not to report on price increase only but also on price decline. He said if price was going up it was due to a problem in the distribution system.
Earlier, Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) Chairman M Syarkawi Rauf said the government did not need to import shallots now because stock at home was adequate.
"It is not relevant for the government to import shallots as Indonesia still has production surplus," he said when inspecting the Sukomoro Market in Nganjuk District, East Java, recently.
He said that what was relevant for the government to do now was to arrange stocks and supplies, market intervention and purchase the commodity during the harvest season.
Syarkawi said that Indonesia's shallot production reached 1.2 million tons while consumption was only about 975,000 kg per annum, thus it will still have shallot production surplus.
He said that shallot prices increased sometime in the past. In a number of markets, prices ranged at between Rp40,000 per kg and Rp45,000 per kg.
Those prices were far higher compared with normal prices at about Rp27,000 per kg - Rp32,000 per kg. (WDY)
: I Gusti Bagus Widyantara
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