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Govt ready to import 500,000 more tonnes of rice ‘if needed’
The announcement comes despite the government having brought 500,000 tonnes of rice into the country since December.
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Workers move rice sacks at the Bulog warehouse in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, on Nov. 26, 2020. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he Trade Ministry says Indonesia may procure another 500,000 tonnes of rice from abroad this year to fill up the diminishing government rice reserves (CBP).
The announcement comes despite the government having imported 500,000 tonnes of rice from countries including Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan starting last December.
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the government had agreed to offer the option, arguing that the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) only had around a quarter of the required minimum reserves of 1.2 million tonnes.
“Yesterday, during a meeting with the President, [we decided that] whenever needed, we could bring in 500,000 tonnes [of imported rice] again,” Zulkifli told lawmakers on Wednesday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
“If we do not import, how are we going to ensure supply?” he said separately in a meeting with House of Representatives Commission VI, which oversees trade, investment and state-owned enterprises.
Read also: State intervention backfires as rice prices hit multiyear high
Rice prices continued to increase at the beginning of the year despite the controversial importation of rice beginning late last year and recent market intervention by Bulog.
