A vendor at Legi Market, Hartini, said prices of staple foods such as eggs, cooking oil and sugar had increased significantly in the last three days and estimated the prices would continue to rise until Ramadhan and Idul Fitri.

"The prices have started to rise. They are not that high but customers have complained," Hartini said on Thursday.

This year, Ramadhan is expected to start on May 27.

At Legi and Gede markets, chili prices have started to rise. Red bird’s eye chilis are now selling at Rp 55,000 per kilogram, up from Rp 50,000. Meanwhile, big red chili prices have risen from Rp 29,000 to Rp 30,000 per kg.

The price of garlic has jumped from Rp 30,000 per kg to Rp 57,000. The prices of eggs and chicken have also skyrocketed.  The price of eggs has risen from Rp 17,000 per kg last week to Rp 18,500. Chhicken is now priced at Rp 30,000 per kg, up from Rp 28,000.

The Surakarta administration has established a food security task force to monitor staple food prices. Surakarta Trade Agency head Subagiyo said the task force would anticipate and handle various forms of fraud such as hoarding and monopoly pricing.

"The team will work to oversee prices every day to anticipate price fluctuation or commodity scarcity," Subagiyo said. (dis/ebf)

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