Rahardi: Indonesia to stop importing rice until January

Rahardi: Indonesia to stop importing rice until January

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Industry and Trade Rahardi Ramelan
said on Friday that Indonesia would not import rice until
January, as existing stocks are sufficient to meet demand during
the next three months.

"We do not need to import more rice through commercial
purchases until January, because we have enough rice stocks,"
Rahardi, also the acting chairman of the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog), said in a press conference.

He said that Bulog's rice stocks are currently 2.3 million
tons, enough to meet the domestic demand until the end of this
year. He also stated that the agency procured 222,000 tons of
rice from local farmers during the January-October period.

Indonesia has so far secured import contracts and aid
commitments for 3.49 million tons of rice, or over 85 percent of
the 4.1 million tons which will be procured by the government
from overseas markets this fiscal year, which ends in March.

Rahardi said that the 3.49 million tons of rice includes
716,000 tons bought through international tenders in September,
750,000 tons obtained through direct purchases before September,
loans from Japan totaling 500,000 tons and loans and grants from
other countries.

Rahardi said that the government was engaged in talks
concerning the further aid of about 400,000 tons of rice from
Japan and 350,000 tons from the United States.

He said that the country is still negotiating the terms of
payment for the soft loans, and other technical issues regarding
the shipment of the rice from the two countries.

"We expect that the shipment of the rice will still be within
this fiscal year period. If we can secure the soft loans from the
two countries we will not need to import anymore during this
fiscal year," he added.

Rahardi added that Indonesia also planned to buy between
400,000 and 500,000 tons of rice from Egypt and Pakistan through
US$190 million in soft loans from the Islamic Development Bank.

"I am very careful in this matter because we are expecting a
very big harvest in March. If the harvest is really big, better
than we expected, then we will have to reduce our imports," he
said.

Rahardi also said that starting on Jan. 1, 1999, Bulog would
lose the privilege of an exchange rate subsidy of Rp 6,000
against the U.S. dollar to import rice.

He added that the government has lifted Bulog's monopoly of
rice imports and now allows private companies to import the
commodity and sell it directly to consumers to help boost supply
on the domestic market.

"Starting Sept.22 general importers are free to import rice,
and they are exempt from import duties and value added tax," he
said.

CPO tax

Rahardi said that state-owned plantations are free to export
crude palm oil (CPO) and its by-products.

His statement helps clarify the ongoing confusion over whether
these companies can export their products.

Previously, the government slapped an export ban on these
state-owned plantations, forcing them to sell their products
domestically.

"The state plantations are free to export (their CPO products)
if their products can not be absorbed by the KDI (Indonesian
Distribution Cooperative)," the minister said.

The KDI was established in the middle of this year to replace
Bulog's role in distributing cooking oil in the country.

Rahardi also said that the 60 percent CPO export tax would
still be imposed on CPO exports.

The minister also reiterated that the government would not
change or review the export tax on CPO, at least until the Moslem
Idul Fitri festivities, which fall on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 next
year. (gis)