Heaptalk, Jakarta — Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan inspected rice prices in two traditional markets in Bogor City, West Java, namely Anyar Market and the affordable market in Sukasari Urban Village (03/18).
“Happily, the rice has dropped a lot, almost Rp1,000 per kilogram. From Rp17,000 to Rp. 15,000 (per kilogram), there has been a decrease of Rp2,000 per kilogram,” Zulkifli voiced on the sidelines of the visit. He expected that rice prices would return to normal next month aligned with the harvest season. To date, the government constantly distributes Bulog rice, both SPHP and premium, to stabilize prices on the market.
He explained, “I hope that the price of rice will continue to gradually fall until it approaches the highest retail price, namely for medium rice, zone 1 Rp10,900, zone 2 Rp11,500, and zone 3 Rp11,800 per kg. Then for premium rice for zone 1 Rp12,900, zone 2 Rp14,400, and zone 3 Rp14,800 per kg. This is aligned with the main harvest period at the end of March and April 2024. Hopefully at the end of the month (March) until next month. (After) harvest, local rice prices are expected to return to normal. Bulog’s rice (price) is stable.”
Further, Zulkifli admitted that currently, the price of rice is still high as the price of grain for farmers is still expensive. Thus, he denied the House of Representatives statement that the price of grain was starting to fall. Zulkifli added, “As I have said, including at the House of Representative meeting, they said that the price of grain was going down, that the member of the House of Representatives was wrong as the price of grain is still expensive, some are Rp. 7,000 to Rp. 8,000. There are no farmers who complain about cheap grain prices.”
Meanwhile, the Director General of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Trade Isy Karim added that rice prices are starting to fall in several traditional markets in Indonesia, one of which is Anyar Market, Bogor. The average reduction in rice prices is around Rp500-Rp1,000 per kg. “Earlier there was Karawang rice whose (price) had started to fall. If some time ago Demak had not flooded, the price of rice would have fallen even more quickly. But Demak flooded some time ago, resulting in a lot of (rice fields) being submerged,” concluded Isy Karim.
