Govt Raises Rice Price to Protect Local Farmers, President Says
17 May 2015 08:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo said that the policy to raise rice price is not to put the people in trouble; in fact, he said that the move is made because the government does not want to import rice and wants to protect local farmers.
"Actually if we want to import, the price of rice will drop to Rp4,000 per kilo gram, but afterwards, how can the farmers live? President Joko Widodo said on Saturday.
Importing rice, the President said, will be done once national rice supply is running low. However, he said that based on the calculation of the Agriculture Ministry, national rice supply is still sufficient thus no need to import.
Furthermore, the President that the government would also make other policies to maintain rice supply and to make basic commodities evenly distributed in Indonesia, one of them by boosting infrastructure development.
FAIZ NASHRILLAH