A man sleeps on sacks of rice at Jakarta’s rice market. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) - The Indonesian government will increase imports as a solution to curb price hikes of food, especially corn, sugar, and rice, President Joko Widodo stated at a cabinet meeting on October 9.
Talking to media after the meeting, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the prices of sugar and corn were gradually increasing given the current global situation, such as conflicts and El Nino phenomena.
He said that Indonesia will import 250,000 tonnes of corn for the animal feed industry. Meanwhile, it will wait for prices to decrease before deciding to import sugar.
Sugar importers only register to import about 30% of the total allocated sugar import quota, he added.
According to the minister, the government is also cooperating with several countries to purchase rice if needed. The Southeast Asian nation has planned to import an additional 1.5 million tonnes to increase its national rice reserves, which stood at only 1.7 million tonnes as of October 6./.
