Indonesia: The government will import 3 million tons of rice in 2024

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GARUT -- Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Menko for the Economy of the Republic of Indonesia) Airlangga Hartarto revealed that he would re-import 3 million tons of rice in 2024. The import plan is to overcome the rice deficit resulting from El Nino. "Last year we imported around 3.5 million (tons) of rice. "3 million have arrived, 500 thousand are expected to arrive this January," said Airlangga when met at a rice food aid handover event in Garut, West Java, Saturday (20/1/2024). He added, "The government has decided to import (a total of) 3 million tons this year, of which 2 million are currently being processed at Bulog," he said. This was done to reduce the impact of El Nino which occurred in Indonesia recently and caused a national rice deficit of up to 2.3 million tons. Therefore, the government will meet this rice shortage through a rice import program. According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) report, good ...