Luhut Suggests All Villages Plant Chilies, Shallots to Control Inflation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan said he had sent a report to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo about the rising prices of shallots and chilies which contributed to the country's high inflation.

“I reported it to the President. Pak, [what if] we ask all villages to plant shallots? So that our inflation can be controlled by around four percent?,” Luhut said when giving a public lecture at Hasanuddin University, Makassar, as quoted from a YouTube video on Friday, August 19, 2022.

He explained that the high inflation rate in Indonesia, which reached 4.94, was driven by food prices, particularly the surge in prices of red chillies, shallots, and cabai rawit (red bird's eye chili). In fact, according to him, the basic inflation was only 2.48 percent.

However, Luhut argued that the country's inflation level was still good compared to other countries, such as the U.S. and Turkey, which reached double digits. This economic situation should make people proud.

“Sometimes there are people who are not proud of this country. If people don't like this current government, it's okay, it will end in 2024,” he added.

He also acknowledged that the current state of economic recovery needs to be considered like a war against two enemies, namely energy and food. Thus, the government will focus on controlling inflation in food and energy.

Although Indonesia's inflation is lower than other countries, President Jokowi earlier said that the figure exceeded the upper limit of the target range of 3 plus/minus 1 percent. One of the reasons was volatile food inflation which reached 11.47 percent from the maximum of 6 percent.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI | FAJAR PEBRIANTO 

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