"We have inspected the stocks of commodities, particularly of cooking oil, in Banda Aceh. Our inspection concludes that despite the cooking oil stocks in Aceh being adequate, some merchants are not selling the cooking oil within the regulated price," Lutfi noted in Banda Aceh on Saturday.
Banda Aceh Mayor Aminullah Usman, Aceh municipal Industry and Trade Office head Mohd Tanwier, and other officials accompanied Lutfi during the visit to the public market.
A market merchant informed the minister that they sell bulk cooking oil at Rp15 thousand (US$1.05) per liter, while packaged cooking oil is sold in the range of Rp18-20 thousand (US$1.26-1.4) per liter during the inspection.
The minister affirmed that despite the higher selling price, the current situation was better than if no cooking oil was available or if the price was more inflated.
Related news: Minister coordinates with local gov'ts to ensure cooking oil supply
"We will distribute more cooking oil soon to help merchants reduce their selling price to the government's regulated price of Rp11,500 (US$0.80) for bulk cooking oil, Rp13,500 (US$0.94) for the simple package, and Rp14,000 (US$0.98) for the premium package," Lutfi remarked.
Lutfi noted that as the cooking oil stocks in Medan, North Sumatra, were abundant, the ministry would expedite the effort to distribute the commodity to Aceh and ensure that the distribution process to the province remained normal to help reduce the cooking oil prices in Aceh.
"We are optimistic of providing more supply to Banda Aceh soon to help local merchants sell the product within the permitted price, as the cooking oil stock is currently adequate," the minister noted. Related news: Minister observes cooking oil supply in Jambi
Translator: Rahmat Fajri, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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