TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed governors, regents and mayors to monitor food stocks and commodity distributions to control the inflation rate.
“Whenever possible, there should be a budget allocated to intervene [food] price instability,” Jokowi said when opening a coordination meeting of the Regional Inflation Control Team in Jakarta on Thursday, August 4, 2016.
Jokowi also praised several regional heads for intervening food price hike when the inflation rate was high, such as Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama who managed to maintain beef prices at Rp39,000 (US$3) per kilogram during the Ramadan.
The President also reminded regional heads to improve road infrastructures and check food stocks in warehouses to prevent hoarding.
Earlier, the Central Statistics Agency recorded an inflation rate of 0.69 percent in July 2016, slightly increasing from 0.66 percent in the previous month. The government claimed that the figure was the lowest during the Lebaran holiday over the last four years. Meanwhile, the year-to-date inflation rate stood at 1.72 percent.
Bank Indonesia projected that the inflation rate would stand at 4 percent plus or minus 1 percent by the end of 2016 and 2017, and 3.5 percent plus or minus 1 percent in 2018. According to Jokowi, the inflation rate must be balanced with the regional economic growth.
Last year, the government managed to suppress the inflation rate at 3.35 percent. Despite having a higher inflation rate than Malaysia and Singapore, Jokowi expressed optimism that it would continue to decrease by 2018.
“With a below 2-percent inflation rate and a 5-percent economic growth, the people will be prosperous and purchasing power will be stronger,” Jokowi said.
PUTRI ADITYOWATI
