Indonesian Trade Minister Asked to Maintain Cooking Oil Price Stability

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has directed Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi and ministry officials to maintain domestic cooking oil price stability following the recent commodity price hike, according to Antara news, Jakarta on January 03. 
As the government must prioritize people’s livelihood, the ministry must conceive several measures to ensure cooking oil prices remain affordable, President Widodo said. He also advised the minister to conduct market interventions, if necessary, to maintain price affordability.
As per the latest cooking oil price data recorded by the National Strategic Food Price Information Centre, the price of two branded cooking oil products currently stand at Rp20,200 (US$1.41) and Rp20,400 (US$1.42) per liter, and bulk cooking oil is selling for Rp18,500 (US$1.29) per liter. 
    In a related development, the same source reported on January 05 the government has implemented a policy cooking oil at just Rp14 thousand per liter (US$1) to the public.  The policy will be in effect for six months, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto informed during a meeting in Jakarta. The policy will be evaluated in May and the supply of cheap oil could be extended, he added. During the six-month period, the government will provide 1.2 billion liters of cooking oil, which will require a budget allocation of Rp3.6 trillion to fill the gap in price and value added tax, Hartarto said.