KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Indonesia plans to set next year's rice import quota at 2 million metric tons, the country's state food procurement company Bulog said late on Monday, below this year's quota. The 2024 import realisation would depend on domestic supply and demand, Bulog's corporate secretary Awaludin Iqbal said. Indonesia initially issued 2 million tons of import quota for this year, on top of 300,000 tons of carry over quota from 2022.
Authorities last month decided on an additional 1.5 million tons for this year, though some of this may be realised in early 2024. Baca Juga: Reserve Bank of Australia Raises Rates to 12-Year High The large import quotas were issued to tame rising domestic rice prices due to drier-than-usual weather hurting harvests. Average rice retail prices in October rose more than 19% on a yearly basis, government data showed. The 2024 quota came after the government decided to further extend its rice handout scheme until June, a programme that provides 10 kg of rice monthly to 22 million lower-income households to help them cope with high prices of the staple. The programme was previously due to expire next month. "We decided to extend the programme considering the rice price has yet to drop," Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan told reporters on Monday.
