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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Economy & Trade

Rice prices under scrutiny as Indonesia weighs reviews of price ceilings

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources New plan
  • Indonesia’s Bulog and the House of Representatives’ Commission IV discussed reviewing benchmark purchase and maximum retail rice prices.
  • The government approved an additional 1 million tons of SPHP rice supplies through March 2027 because of possible El Niño effects and harvest losses.
  • Bulog will prepare 380,000 tons of lower-grade rice for auction to flour producers and small businesses.

Rice prices took center stage in discussions between Indonesia’s state food agency Bulog and Commission IV of the House of Representatives on government rice reserves in Jakarta.

Commission IV urged an evaluation of the benchmark purchase price, known as HAP, and the maximum retail price, or HET. Bulog President Director Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani said the issue could be discussed in a future meeting involving the National Food Agency and the Agriculture Ministry.

“This needs an evaluation meeting on HAP and HET going forward,” Rizal said. The discussion formed part of a focus group on managing government rice reserves, where lawmakers also offered recommendations to strengthen the government’s rice programs.

This needs an evaluation meeting on HAP and HET going forward.

· Ahmad Rizal RamdhaniThe Bulog president director described the proposed review of rice purchase and retail price limits.

The government has approved an additional 1 million tons of rice under the Food Supply and Price Stabilization program, or SPHP. Rizal said the supply will be used through March 2027, with distribution directed toward areas considered vulnerable to the effects of El Niño. Officials say the weather pattern could trigger crop failures and require intervention to keep rice affordable.

Commission IV also raised concerns about the quality of SPHP rice. Rizal said rice distributed to the public must remain clean, hygienic and acceptable to consumers. “The rice must not be of poor quality, because people could end up disappointed,” he said.

Separately, the government agreed to process 380,000 tons of downgraded rice into rice flour. The rice has been stored for more than 10 months and meets the requirements for use as flour. Bulog will prepare it for auction through the State Assets and Auction Service Office to businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises with rice-flour processing facilities. The move is intended to limit potential state losses from further deterioration and reduce the need to import broken rice.

The rice must not be of poor quality, because people could end up disappointed.

· Ahmad Rizal RamdhaniRizal addressed lawmakers’ concerns about the quality of subsidized rice distributed to consumers.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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