Staple Food Prices Rise, Home Affairs Ministry Secretary-General Urges Regional Inflation Teams to Visit Markets
Ministry of Home Affairs Secretary-General Tomsi Tohir has instructed Regional Inflation Control Teams (TPID) to go directly to markets to monitor the prices of staple goods. During the first week of Ramadan, several essential commodities — including bird’s eye chillies, broiler chicken, red chillies, garlic and beef — have begun creeping upward in a number of regions.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please ensure our colleagues from the regional agencies and TPID go out and check prices on the ground. Then communicate properly with the key players so that prices can come down,” Tomsi said in a written statement on Monday (23 January 2026).
He made the remarks while chairing a Regional Inflation Control Coordination Meeting, held alongside an evaluation of local government support for the Three Million Homes Programme and a briefing on halal product certification at the Sasana Bhakti Praja Building, Ministry of Home Affairs, Jakarta.
Tomsi explained that price surges at the distributor level had already exceeded the government’s Maximum Retail Price (HET). He therefore urged regional governments, particularly the TPID, to take firm action against distributors selling above the HET.
“We have a maximum retail price — the HET. Enforce that regulation. Enforce it, and I am asking you to be out there every day,” he said.
In addition, Tomsi called on the state logistics agency Bulog to help control rising rice prices in several regions. He argued that Bulog could increase rice stocks in areas experiencing price spikes so that prices exceeding the HET can be brought down, in line with the government’s effort to achieve rice self-sufficiency.
“That is where our responsibility lies as government officials — to uphold the dignity of these regulations. We cannot keep saying ‘it’s only slightly above the HET’. That is unacceptable,” he said.
He added that effective control of staple food prices would make it easier for the public to meet their daily needs, and that inflation control measures by TPID teams must therefore be continuously strengthened.
“If we can hold the line until the end in controlling staple food prices, then this year’s Eid al-Fitr will be the best one yet in terms of prices,” he concluded.
The meeting was also attended by Director-General of Rural Housing at the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Imran, Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics at the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Ateng Hartono, Acting Deputy II of the Presidential Chief of Staff Popy Rufaidah, and other relevant officials.