JAKARTA: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) confirmed that Indonesia had managed to secure sufficient stocks of rice for the people for this year’s Ramadan month expected to take place between March and April, reported ANTARA news agency.

Jokowi made the statement on the sidelines of his dialogue with participants of the Prosperous Family’s Economy (Mekaar) Programme after conducting a first-hand review of rice stocks at a warehouse of state-owned logistics company Bulog in Bekasi, West Java, on Friday.

“There are no problems with the stocks. Based on my first-hand review, the stocks are abundant,“ he remarked.

Jokowi reiterated that the government had been striving to ensure equitable distribution of rice stocks to markets so that all people will get sufficient quantity of the staple food commodity.

“The most important thing is to identify ways to properly distribute rice to markets and the people. This is not an easy task,“ he emphasised.

He then expressed optimism about his administration being successful in dealing with the matter, considering that the government had managed to secure and distribute rice stocks evenly for Ramadan every year.

The head of state further noted that the government would prepare stocks of various grades of rice, from medium to premium.

“Yes, we will prepare the stocks of all grades (of rice),“ he stated.

Earlier, during his visit to the Cipinang Central Market, Jakarta, on Thursday (February 15), Jokowi observed that the current rice scarcity-related price spike has been caused by the fact that farmers in regions had yet to enter the rice harvesting period.

He also drew attention to floods hitting the districts of Demak and Grobogan in Central Java saying that the disaster had caused disruptions to the distribution of rice, which then led to scarcity and surging prices.

According to the website of the Cipinang Central Market, a total of 33,525 tons of rice are available at the market as of February 15, 2024. The market has been selling rice at the average price of Rp13,815 (US$0.88) per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Bulog is currently storing 1.18 million tons of rice which is ensured to be sufficient to meet the national needs of the commodity until April 2024. – Bernama, Antara

Published Date: February 16, 2024