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Member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) Andi Akmal Pasluddin appealed to the Indonesian government to find a solution to deal with the problem of rising food prices in the country.
“The government must check and find a solution, so that this problem does not continue,” Pasluddin noted in a statement here on Monday.
The House member assessed that the surge in the prices of strategic commodities, such as food and energy, had a broad impact on the community, especially those from the lower middle class.
“There are around 115 million people from the middle class, and there are still hundreds of millions of lower-middle-class people, who are affected by this price increase,” he noted.
The legislator pointed out that prices of several food products, such as cooking oil and cayenne pepper, still remain high. Moreover, the value-added tax (VAT) has increased to 11 percent, and the price of non-subsidised Pertamax fuel and biodiesel also rose, he stated.
Pasluddin further questioned the government’s regulation regarding the retail price ceiling (HET) for bulk cooking oil, which is Rp14 thousand per litre.
He noted that the price of bulk cooking oil still stood at Rp19,875 per kilogram. Meanwhile, packaged premium-quality cooking oil is available in the markets, but the price had reached Rp50 thousand per two litres, he added.
Pasluddin also drew attention to the scarcity of subsidised diesel when, in fact, it is the mainstay of logistics vehicles for distributing food.
According to the legislator, the government should become the price leader for all strategic commodities, such as food and energy.
Pasluddin emphasized that the government should be able to control aspects of subsidised cooking oil right from its price to availability, including its distribution.
Category: Indonesia
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