Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia During Inspection to Bakti Traditional Market, Medan City, North Sumatra Province, February 9, 2023

I have checked the price of eggs, it is normal. The price of shallot is also still under control around Rp40,000 per kilogram. So do chillies. For rice, some stalls already received rice from state-owned logistics company Bulog of 5 kilograms for Rp49,000 per kilo. So that the selling price will be under Rp10,000 per kilo.

Press
Are the quality good, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
They are in good quality. The rice is good.

Press
How about cooking oil, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Cooking oil price is at Rp14,000. It is still normal.

Press
How long the price stability could last, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
The governors, regents, mayors, all of them will inspect the markets regularly. The most important thing is to control the micro areas, not only the macro. Every week we will check the inflation rate in each regency/city and province, how much the inflation is, who is the highest, who is the lowest, we are opening all data. So that everyone must be working hard, competing to reduce inflation.

Press
All data is accessible, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes.

Press
Sir, any sanctions imposed by the Central Government for regions that cannot maintain the stocks of rice and cooking oil, and with high inflation rate?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
No. Regions with good inflation rate will be granted incentives from Ministry of Finance worth Rp15 billion, if I am not mistaken.

Press
Meanwhile, how about regions which still cannot reach the target?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
They must be embarassed and want to lower it (the inflation).

Press
Any sanctions, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Not yet. But at least, they will be embarassed since the public can see the data. Only a few regions have inflation rate of 8-9 percent. Most regions are lower than that.

Press
Cooking oil and rice stocks are uncertain. Sometimes they are available and sometimes they are not. Any comments, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Our country’s geographical area is quite challenging, there are 514 regencies/cities in around 17,000 islands. The distribution process is hard, sometimes it is disrupted due to bad weather or road conditions. That’s why infrastructure is pivotal.

(EST/MMB)