Indonesia Govt To Up Domestic Rice Buys To Contain Inflation

May 02,2007 00:00 by dailynews

The Indonesian government will increase domestic rice procurement to ensure it has enough stocks this year to prevent inflation from spiraling up, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said Wednesday.

"We need to maintain rice stocks in order to maintain its price stability," Boediono told reporters. "We will take an all-out effort," Boediono said without specifying the quantity of rice the government will buy from domestic market.

Analysts are concerned that rice supply in the domestic market may not be enough after current harvest ends to prevent the price of rice, the staple food of most of Indonesia's population of 220 million, from rising.

In April Indonesia posted a 0.16% on-month deflation, as rice prices fell 5.16% from a month earlier after the government released rice stocks for sale in markets across the country to stem rising prices.