"Bulog is possessing an abundant stock of the Government's Rice Reserves that will be sufficient for meeting the needs during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays," the agency's public relations and institutional manager, Tomi Wijaya, remarked during a media discussion in Jakarta on Friday.
He noted that rice stocks, totaling 1.4 million tons, are stored at the agency's warehouses. The quantity will be combined with an additional stock obtained from imports to secure sufficiency for the long holidays, he added.
According to Wijaya, the 1.4 million tons of rice will also be used for aid distribution that will last until next year, with the goal of maintaining the stability of rice prices for the public.
He further explained that Bulog had succeeded in making contracts with several countries to secure an additional stock of one million tons of rice in total, out of the 1.5 million tons of imports mandated by the government.
"We have managed to make contracts with a number of countries whose rice production is still running at a high level, namely Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Furthermore, we will explore import opportunities with India and other countries," he noted.
The National Food Agency (Bapanas) has tasked Bulog with implementing two main instruments for anticipating a spike in rice prices at home, including distributing food aid and executing the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) Program by conducting cheap market operations.
Bulog has distributed a total of 1.4 million tons of rice assistance throughout this year.
While personally distributing rice assistance in Malang, East Java, on Thursday (December 14), President Joko Widodo stated that the government had decided to sustain the assistance distribution program until March 2024. (
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Translator: Maria C, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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