Bapanas and Bulog Accelerate Distribution of Rice and Cooking Oil Assistance

Jakarta - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) and Perum Bulog have committed to accelerating the realisation of food assistance distribution for rice and cooking oil in 2026 to maintain stability and protect public purchasing power.

I Gusti Ketut Astawa, Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilisation at Bapanas, explained that the pro-people programme had become a directive from President Prabowo Subianto and therefore must be implemented as quickly as possible. His office is working with Bulog to ensure various acceleration measures are in place.

“Food assistance will not be delayed. This is already a directive from the President, so it certainly must be implemented and as quickly as possible. However, preparation must be thorough because the distribution is substantial,” said Ketut as confirmed in Jakarta on Saturday.

As an acceleration measure, as of 26 February, Ketut said his office had submitted a notification letter to Perum Bulog Director General Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani confirming that the budget for food assistance distribution was available in Bapanas’s Budget Implementation List (DIPA).

“First we complete the goods using the methods prepared by our colleagues at Bulog (before distribution),” said Ketut.

Furthermore, Bapanas continues to encourage Bulog to accumulate stocks of Minyakita sourced from the Domestic Margin Obligation (DMO). The requirement for Minyakita cooking oil for the public food assistance programme in 2026 is 132.98 million litres, so stock readiness before distribution is important to ensure.

“Of course, food assistance is currently being processed and assignments are already underway. We are gathering the allocation of cooking oil for Minyakita. Once we have Minyakita, Bulog will certainly immediately distribute it and this must be done quickly,” explained Ketut.