Budi Waseso: Indonesia Not Importing Rice for Third Straight Year

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State Logistics Agency (Bulog) reported it had absorbed 1.2 million tons of rice from local farmers until the end of 2021. Thus, the agency ensured the procurement of the government's rice reserve (CBP) from abroad was unnecessary and this marked the third year in a row that the government did not import the commodity.

“This domestic rice absorption is really helpful for Indonesian farmers who face difficulty selling their rice during the COVID-19 pandemic and also maintains the government's achievement of not importing rice for the last three years,” said Bulog President Director Budi Waseso in an official statement, Tuesday, December 28.

Buwas, as he is familiarly known, outlined that based on the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, the national rice production was predicted to reach 11.61 million tons in the first quarter of 2022. Bulog, he added, would always be ready to absorb the production in order to maintain price stability at the farmer level.

Other than adding stocks of the government's rice reserve, Buwas said the absorption of unhusked rice from local farmers could drive farmers’ economy. “So that we can restore the economy in accordance with President Jokowi’s order during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Throughout 2021, Buwas said Bulog had also maintained rice price stability at the consumer level by carrying out market operations dubbed KPSH (the availability of supply and price stabilization).

Read: The Rice Import Shambles

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