"We expected the central government would be able to conduct market operations, and thank God, a few days ago, and in the next few days, we will do market operations with the Bureau of Logistics to ensure the availability of cooking oil for households," Muslih informed in a statement issued on Monday.
He made the statement in response to the recent limited and short supply of cooking oil, which has sent prices shooting past the Rp14 thousand per liter price set by the government.
The market operation will bring the price of cooking oil down to Rp14 thousand, he said adding, the intervention would need to be conducted regularly.
Muslih said that the shortage has occurred on a national scale, thus it is indeed the central government's authority to handle it, including through the conduct of market operations.
"The regional government also supports, facilitates, and prepares data, especially for the poor to obtain cooking oil at a reasonable price," he added.
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The current condition regarding cooking oil availability is also related to the market or supply-demand mechanism, he said. The cooking oil industry in Indonesia is currently facing very high international demand, he pointed out.
"So that some of our cooking oil is exported in large quantities because prices abroad are more attractive, higher than domestic prices. This has resulted in several regions, including Bantul, and I think all of Indonesia, to experience a shortage of supply," he said.
The central government would be able to handle this issue since cooking oil is exported abroad, he added.
"Because this is a national case, and there is no cooking oil industry in Bantul itself," he said.
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Translator: Hery Sidik, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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