Govt Will Not Import Rice for Ramadan: Minister
12 May 2015 16:42 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sofyan Djalil said the government would not make any decision in the near future as to whether it would import rice.
The minister also guaranteed the country’s rice supplies for Ramadan until Idul Fitri were adequate.
“For the fasting month, we don’t need to import rice,” he said on Tuesday, May 12, 2015.
Sofyan said even if the government decided to import rice it was only to secure rice stocks from late this year to the beginning of 2016. He added the government would decide on the matter in July.
“The grand harvest will last until late May. After that, we will see. We will only import rice when domestic consumption drops,” he said.
Rice imports are possible under Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 5 Year 2015 on the Policy of Rice/Unhulled Rice Procurement and Rice Distribution by the Government, which is aimed at safeguarding the stability of national economy, farmers’ income rate, and the stability of rice prices.
Sofyan said the government was still calculating rice stocks at State Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouses to prepare for Idul Fitri, and that Bulog was still absorbing rice supplies as harvests were still afoot in a number of regions.
PINGIT ARIA
