Rice stock in Indonesia sufficient amid rising prices

JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Reuters): President Joko Widodo on Monday said Indonesia has sufficient rice stock at home, seeking to allay concerns about supplies as prices of the staple hit multi-year highs due to periods of drought and low output.

Rice prices rose at the fastest pace in over a decade in August, even as the inflation rate remained relatively low. The average climbed as much as 16 per cent from the same month a year earlier to 14,000 rupiah (91 US cents) per kilogram, the highest since at least March 2017, when records began, central bank data showed.

Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, said Indonesia has 1.6 million metric tons of government-owned rice stock in warehouses, with another 400,000 tons of imported supply currently being shipped.

"Normally we only have 1.2 million tons, now we have 2 million tons. So we do not need to worry," Jokowi said after visiting a warehouse owned by state food procurement company Bulog in Bogor, near the capital Jakarta.

The president launched an 8 trillion rupiah ($520 million) rice assistance programme from the warehouse, under which the government will hand out 640,000 tons of rice to 21.35 million low-income households over three months.