Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan conducted an impromptu visit to the Ponorogo Station Market, Ponorogo City, East Java Province, on Sunday to monitor the prices of the basic commodities during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“We want to ensure that the prices of basic necessities in the community level are under control,” he stated.

He bought a number of basic necessities, such as rice, packaged cooking oil, chicken meat, tempeh, as well as other commodities, at a number of stalls to know the current prices of the products.

The groceries he bought would be distributed as basic necessity assistance to the residents living around the market.

The minister also asked the sellers regarding the stocks of the basic commodities during the Christmas and ahead of the New Year celebrations as well as the stability of the commodity prices over the past two weeks.

“It is great, Mr. Giri (Head of Ponorogo District Sugiri Sancoko). Here, the prices are under control. The (high) price of chili has declined (here),” he noted.

Furthermore, he found that the price of rice distributed by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) was sold by the traders at a quite affordable price — Rp9 thousand per kilogram.

He also assessed that the price of tempeh and vegetables were stable in the market.

Although the current prices of tempeh and tofu are higher than normal prices due to the surge in soybean prices, Hasan has ensured that there will be no more significant increase of the prices of the commodity.

He has been optimistic that the supply of soybeans will increase in January 2023, thus the price of the product will decrease to be around Rp11 thousand per kilogram.

Meanwhile, regarding the rice stocks, he said that the government would buy 1.2 million tons of rice in the midst of February-March 2023 and distributed them through the Bulog.

“Thus, do not worry, the price (of rice) will still be affordable,” the minister said.

Hasan said the sufficient commodity stocks and affordable prices would be enjoyed by  not only the Ponorogo residents but also those in other parts of Indonesia.

“If (the prices) surge to high, they will be subsidized by the government,” he added.

Source: Antara News