The price of rice has gone down by three percent ..."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has called on relevant ministers to maintain stability in the prices of basic necessities during the fasting month.
"President Jokowi has urged us to jointly maintain the prices of basic necessities in accordance with the duties of each ministry," Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman remarked at the Presidential Palace complex here on Wednesday.
Sulaiman said the president had called him, Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, and Trade Minister Thomas Lembong to discuss the prices of basic necessities.
The agriculture minister noted that besides maintaining the prices of basic necessities, the president had also urged them to monitor the availability of rice, meat, peppers, onions, and cooking oil.
"We now have 1.8 million tons of cooking oil, while our requirement is only 400 thousand tons. This means the stock of cooking oil has quadrupled, rice and chicken stocks have doubled, and so, the stocks of our basic necessities are safe," the minister noted.
Sulaiman said in addition to the stocks, the president had called to maintain affordability in prices.
"The price of rice has gone down by three percent, chicken prices also fell, and the Chicken Breeders Association has even called to not allow the prices to drop any further as the price at the farmers level ranged between Rp16 thousand and Rp18 thousand, so market operations must be reduced," he stated.
President Jokowi held the meeting with relevant ministers after he met with the board of the National Commission on Violence Against Women.
Apart from the two meetings, President Jokowi is also scheduled to hold a limited meeting to discuss the transportation issue in the Greater Jakarta area.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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