Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto stated that the Highest Retail Price (HET) for cooking oil will be maintained for bulk cooking oil.
"The government still maintains the Rp14 thousand per liter price for bulk cooking oil. Earlier, I saw that bulk cooking oil was being sold at a price Rp18 thousand to Rp22 thousand per liter," the minister noted after reviewing market digitization at the West Tomang Market here on Thursday.
The government decided to revoke the regulation regarding HET for packaged cooking oil at Rp14 thousand per liter until June that was caused by several factors, including the tension between Russia and Ukraine, Hartarto explained.
"Of course, the price fluctuations varied, including yesterday, due to geopolitical tensions in Russia," he noted.
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Speaking in connection with the scarcity of bulk cooking oil for the public, Hartarto stated that the government was in the process of distributing it, especially to several markets in Jakarta.
He also estimated that the impact of rising cooking oil prices would not affect inflation in the first quarter of the year since price transmission increases will take time.
"February is still very low, and we even have deflationary aspects. We will see the result in March, especially before Eid al-Fitr. The price increase has not affected inflation since the transmission takes time ahead of Ramadan," he explained.
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Meanwhile, in early January, the government had issued a policy to provide cooking oil to the public at a price of Rp14 thousand per liter. The policy was originally prepared for six months and will be evaluated in May.
During the six-month period, the government provided 1.2 billion liters of cooking oil that required a budget to cover the difference in price and value added tax (VAT) of Rp3.6 trillion.
"The price will be at the consumer level that applies throughout Indonesia and is prepared for the next six months," Hartarto remarked after a limited coordination meeting in Jakarta on January 5.
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