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Rice stock sufficient to meet demand until early 2019: Minister
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A warehouse worker rests on top of sacks of rice on Jan. 19 at the Cipinang Central Rice Market in East Jakarta. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
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oordinating Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution has given an assurance that the country’s rice stock of 2.2 million tons is sufficient ahead of the seasonal holidays, the stockpile is enough to meet market demand until early next year.
“State-owned logistics company Bulog has expressed its readiness to supply the market. There will be no more imports up to yearend,” said Darmin in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by kontan.co.id.
Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman also stressed that the rice stock was adequate in Jakarta as there was still 50 million tons of rice at the Cipinang rice market in East Jakarta.
Bulog president director Budi Waseso said the company was ready to carry out market intervention to stabilize the price. “We are ready to fulfill the demand for the next four months,” he added.
The government always pays serious attention to the adequacy of the stock of rice, the main staple food in the country, and attempts stabilize the market price as the commodity is very sensitive to inflation.
The data on rice supplies is often confusing as various institutions present different figures.
The Agriculture Ministry says that the country produced 46.5 million tons of rice this year, while the total consumption was 33.47 million tons. Meanwhile, Statistics Indonesia has calculated that the country’s rice production only reached 32.4 million tons this year.Indonesia imported more than 3 million tons this year. (bbn)
