Rice stock enough until next year's elections<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's accumulated rice stock will be
\nenough to feed civil servants and Armed Forces personnel as well
\nas to stabilize domestic prices until next year's general
\nelection, an official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu Amang
\nannounced after meeting with President Soeharto that the agency's
\ndomestic procurement in the 1996\/1997 fiscal year, starting in
\nApril, is expected to reach two million tons.<\/p>\n
He explained that his agency had bought 100,000 tons of rice
\ndomestically so far this year which made current rice stocks two
\nmillion tons, as compared with 1.8 million tons in February.<\/p>\n
\"So, our rice stock is enough until the 1997 general
\nelection,\" Beddu said.<\/p>\n
He said the current rice stock of two million tons is
\nsufficient until next year as local harvests have now returned to
\nnormal and will peak in April and May.<\/p>\n
Beddu said accumulated rice stock will reach four million tons
\nby the end of this year, of which some 1.8 million tons will be
\nused to cater to the needs of public servants and Armed Forces
\npersonnel.<\/p>\n
\"We still have a carry-over of rice imports this year. We hope
\nthere will be no imports in the 1996\/1997 fiscal year,\" Beddu
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, a significant rice producer, turned to imports in
\nlate 1994 after adverse weather conditions hit domestic harvests.
\nThe government put the purchases at two million tons in the
\n1995\/1996 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Indonesia produced 49 million tons of unhusked rice last year,
\ncompared with 46.4 million in 1994 and 48.14 million in 1993.<\/p>\n
Beddu yesterday also reported on the country's plans to export
\nblack sticky rice to a number of neighboring countries such as
\nSingapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Black sticky rice is used for making various traditional
\nsnacks.<\/p>\n
\"We will export it to those countries because people there
\nneed it to make traditional snacks made of sticky rice just like
\nwe do here. And this kind of rice is not much grown in other
\ncountries,\" Beddu said.<\/p>\n
He said the volume of black sticky rice exports is still very
\nsmall. \"This export is to encourage our farmers to grow this kind
\nof rice.\"<\/p>\n
He said black sticky rice currently sells at Rp 1,300 (55 U.S.
\ncents) domestically. The price of this rice overseas ranges from
\nRp 1,800 to Rp 1,900.<\/p>\n
Inflation<\/p>\n
As the domestic harvest is back to normal, Beddu said the
\ncountry's March inflation rate was expected to be lower than last
\nmonth's 1.71 percent.<\/p>\n
\"We expect the inflation rate in March will be very low,
\nhelped by lower food prices,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that food prices declined by 2.03 percent in the
\nfirst three weeks of March, with the prices of rice falling 1.04
\npercent, meat 3.69 percent, fresh fish 2.1 percent, eggs and milk
\n1.09 percent, vegetables 7.87 percent and fruit 0.38 percent,
\nwhile the prices of canned fish was up 0.29 percent.<\/p>\n
Food is a major component, constituting 33 percent, in monthly
\ncalculations of Indonesia's consumer price index.<\/p>\n
Other inflation components, such as clothing, housing and
\nservices were also lower, Beddu said.<\/p>\n
Beddu said the domestic price of cooking oil is currently
\nstable in the market, adding that Bulog will continue to help
\nstabilize the price.<\/p>\n
He said his agency has succeeded in cutting cooking oil prices
\nto Rp 1,300 a kilo from Rp 1,450 last year. \"We will continue to
\nstabilize its price in the future,\" he added. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rice-stock-enough-until-next-years-elections-1447893297",
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