Jakarta, NU Online
The government will maintain its decision to import rice and will soon carry it out in order to increase depleting national rice stock, Chief Economic Minister Boediono said in Jakarta on Thursday (31/8).

The minister said the government’s rice stock beyond that of National Logistics Agency (Bulog) had been decreasing after natural disasters hit several provinces in Indonesia in recent months.

<>He said rice had to be imported in the near future in order to fill in the decreasing iron stock of the government.

The minister made the remarks on the sidelines of the launching of the People Empowerment Program (PNPM) at the finance ministry building.

Boediono said the fund that would be used to import rice for increasing the depleting iron stock would be taken from the state budget.

He said by importing rice it was expected that the government would not face problems if it was needed at any time in the future.

The minister did not disclose the quantity of rice it had to import to increase its iron stock, but he expressed hope that besides meeting the normal quantity, it would also have a surplus that could be used as a standby stock.

On the possibility that the import may affect the price of farmers’ rice which at present has begun to show improvement, the minister said the goverment would try its best to maintain price stability for rice and unhulled rice of farmers.

"The government is resolved to secure price and stock of rice at home until the coming harvest time," he added.

In the meantime, Bulog director Puspoyo previously said that national rice stock in Bulog’s warehouses was only 532,000 tons, well below the normal level of one million tons.

Therefore, the government is planning to import rice to secure domestic stock ahead of holiday seasons and drought affecting several regions in the country.

But a legislator has questioned the government’s plan to import rice, citing criss-cross data on the country’s annual rice output and consumption as a reason.

"The plan to import rice is a symbol of complicated national food security," Alfridel Jinu of the House Commission for Agriculture said. (ant/ind)