Indonesia will seek to import 500,000 metric tons of rice immediately to fill a domestic supply shortfall and to control prices, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday.

The domestic supply shortage - caused by floods and drought - has inflated Indonesian rice prices to a level where they are "weighing on the people," Kalla told reporters.

"Tenders will be opened today. We hope for urgency and that the rice will arrive by March or April" this year, Kalla said.