Indonesian Govt Ensures Cooking Oil Prices to Drop Before Ramadan

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman promises that the price of cooking oil will decrease soon. He made the promise after leading a limited coordination meeting to ensure sufficient stock and stabilize food prices before Ramadan."The price of cooking oil, hopefully, will be below last year's price," said Amran at the Ministry of Agriculture office on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

He revealed that the promise was formed under the specific instruction of the 8th President of Indonesia."Because the President asked for a price decrease, there will be market operations and demonstrations this year," said Amran.The government has set the highest retail price (HET) for MinyaKita (cooking oil brand owned by Ministry of Trade) at Rp15,700 per liter.However, the price of MinyaKita has increased by up to 12 percent on a national average according to the National Food Price Panel. As of Thursday, February 20, 2025, the price of MinyaKita was observed to have risen to Rp17,590 per liter.Minister of Agriculture Amran hopes that the price can be lowered again to meet the public's need for affordable cooking oil. The constant increase in the price of MinyaKita finally led the government to plan a market operation on February 24, 2025.Agriculture Minister Amran announced that the government has allocated a specific quantity of cooking oil for market operations ahead of Ramadan, with exact figures to be disclosed later. Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri expressed confidence that these market operations will help stabilize MinyaKita prices before the fasting month. "Through this market operation, we hope that the price will be at the HET of Rp 15,700 or lower. Therefore, we must monitor the distribution process, and ensure that it is affordable, as well as make sure that staple goods are available in the field," said Roro when asked how the Ministry of Trade ensures it.She added, "We must coordinate and communicate these matters with state-owned enterprises. "The Ministry of Trade, according to Roro, fully supports the market operation to decrease the price of cooking oil and respond to the complaints of mothers in facing Ramadan and Eid.Previously, Amran stated that the market operation would be conducted massively in all regions of Indonesia, not just in Jakarta. Therefore, Amran mentioned several ministries and agencies that will collaborate to monitor and intervene in food prices in the market."All parties are involved, especially state-owned enterprises. State-owned enterprises are at the forefront, led by the Head of National Food Agency (Bapanas). We are collaborating, extensively from the center to the regions," said Amran. "We are doing it massively."At the same time, Amran ensured that the staple food stock for the preparation of the fasting month is sufficient.The nine staple foods mentioned by Amran are beef, sugar, cooking oil, rice, shallots, garlic, eggs, chicken, and chili. Amran guaranteed that the rice stored in the Bulog warehouse has now reached 2 million tons.