JAKARTA. Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said on Monday that the government would import 50,000 tons of beef from Australia as the domestic beef price continues to rise due to undersupply.

“We will import 50,000 tons more,” Rachmat said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The minister said the decision to import was made because the current limited stocks had disrupted the country’s meat consumption.

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Data shows that the price of beef has gone up by 44 percent recently, to Rp130,000 (US$9.6) per kilogram from Rp 90,000 per kg.

Rachmat also added that he had made the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) the authority for beef distribution.

Earlier, the Indonesian government announced that it had decided to cut cattle imports from Australia following reports of oversupply in several regions, including West Nusa Tenggara.

However, the minister said that the government’s decision to cut cattle imports from Australia was only temporary as there was no written agreement between the two countries on import figures.

Indonesia is the biggest market for Australia’s live export industry, which is worth about US$1 billion annually and employs thousands of people.