Market operations have been organized by involving various stakeholders to ensure commodity price affordability, and collaborations between regional authorities have been forged to ensure commodity supply security, he added.
The coordinating minister said that the government will also optimize the utilization of digital trading platforms, offer cargo fee subsidies to bolster logistics movement, and expedite the implementation of food plant programs.
"(We are taking several measures) to anticipate, for instance, the high demand for chili, particularly near the year-end," Hartarto informed here on Thursday.
Regional authorities have also formulated the balance of ten basic and strategic food commodities in their respective regions, he noted.
The regional authorities will cooperate with the National Food Agency to enhance farming facilities and equipment, including storage facilities, at farm production centers, he added.
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Hartarto further informed that the central government will optimize transfers to regions and village funds (TKDD) to boost food resilience.
Moreover, a portion of the general transfer fund (DTU) will be used to keep food prices in check and provide social assistance and support for the transportation sector.
Synergy between regional authorities in the Regional Inflation Control Team (TPID) will be promoted to control food inflation and stabilize food prices, the minister said.
"Governors, district heads, and mayors (whose regions) have recorded above-average (inflation) rate are urged to (optimize efforts toward) reducing the inflation rate in the upcoming months to below 5 percent," he said adding that official letters seeking the enhancement of regional TPIDs have also been sent to regional leaders.
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, as of August 2022, Indonesia has recorded 0.21 percent month-to-month deflation, while the year-on-year inflation rate has been recorded at 4.69 percent, slightly lower than the rate in July, which stood at 4.94 percent.
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Translator: M Heriyanto, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Suharto
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