TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Minister Thomas Lembong has instructed state logistics agency, BULOG, to intervene in the rice market by using the government's rice reserves to bring rice prices under control.

The instruction was contained in Trade Ministry's Decree No. 944/M-DAG/SD/11/2015, which instructs BULOG to sell off its' rice reserves at Rp7,500 per kilogram in Java, or Rp7,600 per kilogram outside Java.

The letter - dated November 13, 2015 - also puts a cap on retail prices in the market. The instruction stated that prices cannot exceed Rp8000 per kilogram over BULOG's prices, and that the cap will be effective until prices have gone down.

That said, the Decree does not specify how much rice reserves have been set aside for the interventions, which will be done across the archipelago - with priorities given to areas where rice prices have fluctuated way above the average.

Through the Decree, government asks BULOG's deputies to work together with provincial and district heads to coordinate the intervention, and to report the result of the intervention to the Trade Ministry,the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, as well as the Agricultural Minister as the Head of the Food Security Council.

According to the Trade Ministry's Basic Goods Price Surveillance System on Monday, November 30, rice prices have reached around Rp10,602.21 per kilogram - up from last month's average that stood at Rp10,436.76 per kilogram.

ANTARA