Bulog CEO Urges Public Not to Panic Over Rice Stockpiles
Director General of Perum Bulog, Agmad Rizal Ramdhani, has urged the public not to panic regarding rice stocks amid the dynamics of global geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East. He stated that the current national rice stock is safe at 4,387,469 tonnes.
Rizal explained that the government rice reserve stock (CBP) is stored in Bulog warehouses until 1 April 2026, surpassing the previous year’s highest achievement of around 3.2 million tonnes nationally.
“Our reported rice stock reaches 4,387,469 tonnes. This is all in Bulog warehouses. So, the public does not need to engage in panic buying or stress over impacts from abroad. Our stock is plentiful,” said Rizal during a working meeting with Commission XI of the DPR RI in Jakarta on Thursday, 2 April 2026.
According to him, this figure demonstrates a significant improvement in national food procurement performance, while also serving as a strong indicator that domestic rice availability is more than sufficient to meet public needs.
Bulog’s Director General also predicted that by the end of April 2026, total rice procurement could exceed 5 million tonnes. This is in line with the ongoing harvest season in various national production centres.
He assured that all reported rice stocks are stored in Bulog warehouses, allowing for easy distribution at any time if urgent needs arise in various regions. With this situation, the public is advised against excessive purchases, as the government guarantees that rice stock availability remains safe and controlled amid developments in the Middle East.
Bulog also reported that the total national warehouse capacity reaches 5,589,963 tonnes, with the current occupancy rate at approximately 4,368,184 tonnes, leaving substantial storage space available. The remaining warehouse capacity of around 1,221,779 tonnes is deemed more than adequate to accommodate additional rice stocks from future procurements.
Additionally, Bulog is processing the construction of 100 new warehouses in 2026 in accordance with President Prabowo’s directives to strengthen national food storage and distribution infrastructure. The warehouse construction plan has entered the administrative and tender stages following the issuance of the Presidential Regulation, with hopes that all projects can be completed on target in 2026.
To maintain price stability, Bulog, together with the Food Task Force, routinely monitors market prices up to three times a week to ensure prices remain controlled.
In addition to market monitoring, Bulog conducts weekly supervision of food producers and carries out market operations and affordable markets to respond to rises in certain commodity prices.
He added that food prices are generally stable, although chillies remain a challenge due to high fluctuations caused by weather factors.