TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi has decided to extend the period of food assistance distribution until March next year. The government claimed that this program has successfully reduced rice price surges and controlled the inflation rate.

"The distribution of food assistance is guaranteed precision and punctuality," said the Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi in a statement released on Wednesday evening, Nov. 22.

Arief mentioned that after the second phase of food assistance distribution, the government recorded a monthly rice inflation reduction. The inflation rate was reduced from 5.61 percent in September 2023 to 1.72 percent in October.

Furthermore, Arief also claimed that medium rice prices have been stable. Arief referred to the data from the Food Prices Panel, showing that on Oct. 1, the average medium rice price was Rp13,220 per kilogram. On Nov. 21, the price was depreciated for 40 points into Rp13,180 per kilogram.

In addition, a depreciation trend was also recorded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through its global rice prices index. FAO reported a 2 percent price decline in October at 138.9 points compared to September, albeit 24 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

However, the current rice price is still far from the government-regulated maximum retail price (MRP) of Rp10,900 per kilogram. On Nov. 23, the panel recorded that the average medium rice price in Indonesia was Rp13,150 per kilogram.

A similar notion was also conveyed by Bank Indonesia, which recorded that the prices of rice in medium I quality reached Rp13,000 per kilogram while the rice in medium II quality was priced at Rp12,100 per kilogram.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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