According to one vendor, Syawal, the policy has helped sales.
"This actually benefits traders and consumers both, because it is easy for us to sell (the cooking oil) because they run out of stock quickly," he explained in Slipi Market on Wednesday.
Syawal said that prior to the government's one price policy, he was selling packaged cooking oil at Rp20 thousand per liter. He admitted that he had faced difficulties in selling premium packaged cooking oil at that price.
In fact, traders often had to put away oil packages because they did not sell for a few days, he added.
Now, Syawal said he is not worried about sales. However, the distributors have a limited quota for the government-subsidized cooking oil, he revealed.
"I was given a box containing six packs of cooking oil in two-liter packages as a supply," he said.
Another merchant who sells staple items, Ahmad, shared a similar experience. He said that the premium packaged cooking oil stock ran out often after the price was marked down to Rp14 thousand per liter.
"If the packaged oil runs out quickly, I would probably sell it in bulk. It costs Rp 20 thousand per kilogram. The problem is that the government price of packaged oil runs out so fast," he added.
Ahmad said he expected that the government would maintain and guarantee the supply of cooking oil so that there is no shortage in the market.
Related news: No indication of cooking oil hoarding so far: police
According to Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, the policy capping cooking oil price at Rp14 thousand per liter took effect at midnight on January 19, 2022, Wednesday.
"It will start on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 12 a.m. local time throughout Indonesia. However, particularly for traditional markets, the adjustment period is no later than one week from the date of implementation," he announced during a recent meeting.
The government has decided to make efforts to cover the difference in cooking oil prices in order to meet the needs of households, micro industries, and small industries, he explained.
"In this meeting, it was decided that for the difference in the price of cooking oil, funding support from the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency would amount to Rp7.6 trillion," the minister said.
The policy was created based on the results of an evaluation, which considered the availability and affordability of cooking oil prices for the public, he added.
Related news: Trade Minister highlights efforts to stabilize cooking oil prices
Translator: Walda Marison, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
