"The president's instruction when I was (appointed as) the new minister (is to ensure) that bulk and simple-packaged cooking oil prices reach Rp14 thousand in two months. Praise be to God, in two weeks, the price has reached Rp14 thousand in Java, Bali, Sumatra, and Kalimantan," Hasan stated at the Presidential Palace complex here, Thursday.
He remarked that the current task was to reduce the price of cooking oil in Papua and Maluku islands, as it was still currently priced at Rp17 thousand (US$1.13) per litre in those regions.
The government will send one thousand tons of cooking oil to reduce the price in the two regions, the minister stated.
"(The cooking oil price) in Maluku and Papua is now at Rp17 thousand. In two weeks, we will send more cooking oil to those regions. Since we could not send bulk cooking oil to Papua, we only send simple-packaged cooking oil to the region," Hasan noted.
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Apart from controlling the price of cooking oil, the minister also acted on President Joko Widodo's instruction to increase the price of palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) to surpass Rp2,000 (US$0.13) per kilogram.
Hasan pointed out that while the FFB price in Riau had reached Rp2,100 (US$0.14) per kilogram, the price in neighbouring province, Jambi, was still at Rp1,700 (US$0.11) per kilogram.
"Today, most of it has surpassed Rp2,000 (per kilogram), while some others are still at Rp1,700 (US$0.11). I promised that in two weeks, the FFB would be (priced at) over Rp2,000," he remarked.
He confirmed that the trade ministry will continue to implement several strategies to delay the rise in the export fee of US$200 to increase the FFB price by Rp600 per kilogram.
The government will also reduce the taxes of US$230 to bolster the FFB price rise by Rp630 per kilogram, he added.
"This means that Rp1,230 (US$0.082) will be added to the Rp1,250 (US$0.083) price, and the total price will be Rp2,480 (US$0.165)," Hasan expounded.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Suharto
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