Jakarta, May 25 (Antara) - State-owned Logistics Board (Bulog) is optimistic that food commodities, such as rice, shallots, beef and other basic necessities, will continue to be available in the market during the month of Ramadan which begins June 6.
In order to keep prices at home stable, the government is likely to import certain commodities. Prices often tend to increase during the fasting month of Ramadan.
"We have assigned a state-owned company to import these commodities in order to keep the prices down, particularly in view of the fasting month and subsequent Eid el-Fitr or Lebaran festivities," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said after chairing a coordination meeting on food prices in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Bulog, however, was upbeat about its ability to meet the need for foodstuffs during Ramadan and the post-fasting Eid ul-Fitr festivities.
Bulog Procurement Director Wahyu told a coordination meeting at the office of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs that the rice procured by the board till Monday (May 23) had reached 1.3 million tons.
"We are optimistic that we will be able to increase the rice procurement to two million tons by June," Wahyu stated, adding that the amount excludes Bolog's stock of 2.4 million tons.
He claimed that as of now, shallot stock was 600 tons, while another 300 tons worth of stock is on the way to Bulog's warehouses from the regions where the commodity is produced.
"Regarding shallots, we will make maximum efforts to shore up stocks further," remarked Wahyu.
The beef stock was still hovering around 800 tons, with the meat coming from local cattle breeders. There is a possibility that Bulog could import beef, he indicated. Beef could be imported to meet the target set by President Joko Widodo, who wanted that the price of beef during the fasting month must stay below Rp80 thousand per kilogram (kg).
President Joko Widodo, during a visit to Yoyakarta on Monday (May 23), urged his ministers to bring down the price of beef, which usually skyrockets during the fasting month of Ramadan, to Rp80 thousand per kilogram.
"Three weeks ago, I asked (my) ministers to reduce the price of beef to below Rp80 thousand 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, had announced.
Wahyu stressed that Bulog will continue to carry out market operations on food commodities across the country in cooperation with other ministries, such as the Agriculture Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).
State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Rini Soemarno made ot clear that the government and the SOE companies will do anything needed to stabilize prices.
"The government will continue to control prices in the field. It is expected that the price of shallots, currently about Rp41 thousand per kg, will be brought down to about Rp25 thousand per kg. Similarly, the price of beef at Rp100 thousand at present will be lowered to about Rp80 thousand per kg," Rini declared.
The coordination meeting on Tuesday was chaired by Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and was attended by Rini Soemarno, Chief Presidential Staff Teten Masduki, Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Suryamin and representatives of a number of ministries.
Regarding shallots, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said he was convinced that Indonesia would not need to import shallots because production at home was adequate.
"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 thousand and Rp20 thousand per kilogram (kg).
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.
Syarkawi said that Indonesia's shallot production reached 1.2 million tons while consumption was only about 975 thousand 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 thousand per kg and Rp45 thousand per kg.
Those prices were far higher compared with normal prices at about Rp27 thousand per kg - Rp32 thousand per kg.
However, in an effort to control prices from rising due to lack of stocks, the government will likely import foodstuffs, apart from beef.
Director General of Agro Industry at the Industry Ministry Panggah Susanto said the government did not rule out the possibility of the country importing foodstuffs, as their prices at a retail level are on the rise due to rumors of limited supplies.
"The problem is that prices remain high. If prices are still high while there are supplies, this means that there will be something wrong. For instance, the price of onions currently fetch up to Rp40 thousand per kilogram. This means that certain quarters have raised it, because it should not reach that high," he said.
"If prices are too high, there must be importing of foodstuffs," he said.
Therefore, the coordination meeting assigned the Trade Ministry and Bulog to take various steps to stabilize the prices of foodstuffs.
According to Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, prices of several foods, including beef and onions, are increasing. But the prices of rice and red chilis are declining, due to the harvest time.
To maintain supplies and stabilize prices, the government wants to import foodstuffs to prevent their prices from skyrocketing, as well as to avoid scarcities, which may lead to public unrest, he said.
"To control prices we actually have adopted a policy to set the volume of imports. We have assigned a state firm to import foodstuffs, although private companies can also import them," he said. ***3*** (A014/INE/S012)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Suharto) 25-05-2016 20:24: |
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