Jakarta (ANTARA) - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan speaks to journalists after attending the opening of the Crypto Literacy Month in Jakarta on Thursday (February 2, 2023). (ANTARA/Maria Cicilia Galuh/uyu)
After attending the opening of the Crypto Literacy Month here on Thursday, he said that the Trade Ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry will regularly monitor the prices of basic commodities to anticipate any increase.
"If the prices (of basic commodities) rise, the government will help subsidize the transportation (cost). If they keep climbing, the government will help subsidize the prices sourced from the 2 percent of APBD (State Budget) funds -- from the allocation of the unexpected (spending) budget," he informed.
The minister said his ministry has been coordinating with the Home Affairs Ministry every week to monitor the prices of basic necessities, such as rice, soybeans, oil, onions, and chilies.
"We have been preparing (moves to anticipate any price surge) long before Ramadan because it is very important. Currently, every Monday, we and the Home Affairs Ministry have a meeting to monitor it," he added.
He also said that his ministry has asked the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to distribute the government's rice stocks to the market to stabilize the price of the commodity.
Hasan said that during a previous meeting, Bulog was asked to sell rice directly to the community without intermediaries because using intermediaries would make the commodity more expensive.
Bulog has released the rice at a price of Rp8,200 (US$0.55) per kg, so the commodity is supposed to be sold at the highest price of Rp9,450 per kg in the market, he added.
Bulog will distribute 300 thousand tons of rice on February 16, 2023, to help maintain the rice price, he said.
Earlier, the president director of Bulog, Budi Waseso, said that his party will channel 315 thousand tons of rice reserves to the people through cheap market operations from January to March 2023.
The rice distributed through the operations will be quality imported rice, he said.
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