JAKARTA, Nov 7 — Indonesia’s state food procurement company Bulog said the government is planning to set next year’s rice import quota at two million metric tonnes, down from this year’s 3.8 million tons.
However, those imports would depend on domestic supply and demand, said Bulog’s corporate secretary Awaludin Iqbal.
Indonesia also announced it would extend its monthly rice handout scheme until June 2024, a programme providing rice to 22 million lower-income households to protect the poor from rising prices.
The programme was due to expire next month.
“We decided to extend the programme considering the rice price has yet to drop,” Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said to the press yesterday.
The rising price was caused by drought linked to the El Nino weather pattern which has hit harvests.
President Joko Widodo previously said the price of rice has risen by 19.8 per cent as of the end of October.
Indonesia’s rice imports in the January to September period were 1.79 million metric tons, with Bulog rice stock at 1.4 million metric tons as of the start of this month.
— Reuters
