In less than 2 months, the Muslim community will observe Ramadan. Usually, Ramadan is overshadowed by the issue of rising prices of basic necessities. This year, several main commodities such as rice, cooking oil and shallots have received serious attention from the government. The government has taken various steps to maintain the supply of basic commodities. Head of the Trade Assessment and Development Agency (BP3) of the Ministry of Trade Kasan Muhri revealed that prices for medium and premium rice at the consumer level in January 2023 tended to increase compared to December last year. "The increase in rice prices is allegedly due to reduced supply of rice to the market," Kasan told Bisnis when met in his room at the Ministry of Trade Office in Central Jakarta last weekend.
In the records of the Ministry of Trade through cooperation with the National Food Agency the increase in the amount of supply has not been significant. During a visit he made to the Logistics Agency (Bulog) in the Kelapa Gading area, North Jakarta, some time ago, the amount of rice prepared was around 5,000 tons. From the rice import policy through Perum Bulog which was set at 500,000 tons before last year, he explained, there was a remaining 300,000 tons which was targeted to be realized in mid-February 2023 before the main harvest. Kasan said the target was the result of a meeting between the Main Director of Perum Bulog Budi Waseso at the Ministry of Economy some time ago. Meanwhile, in terms of price, medium and premium quality rice in all regions is almost entirely higher than the certain retail price (HET). Based on data from the Ministry of Trade obtained by Bisnis, medium rice experienced the biggest price difference, reaching double digits.
The range of differences in the price of medium rice in all regions of the country ranges from 15 percent - 19 percent of the HET of IDR 9,450 for the regions of Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Lampung, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Kalimantan and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). . As for the Maluku and Papua areas, the HET for medium rice is Rp. 10,250. As a mitigation, it is also deemed necessary for Bapanas to immediately issue a highest retail price policy (HET) as a reference for Bulog in stabilizing rice prices. In addition, Bapanas needs to establish a policy on the cost of purchase price (HPP) for grain/rice before entering the main harvest.
