REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – New policy is under consideration by the government, following the increasing of rice and unhulled rice Government Purchase Price (HPP), the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Rusman Heriawan, said on Wednesday. The new policy will focus also on the “rice for the poor program” or known as raskin (beras untuk rumah tangga miskin –ed).
Government has three options related to the increasing of raskin price and now is the under consultation by in the Ministry of Economy. “There are three options on the table now: the raskin price is either 1,500 IDR; 2,000 IDR; or 2,500 IDR per kilogram,” he said.
Rice for the poor program -today is 1,000 IDR per kilogram- aims to strengthen food security of poor households. It has started since 1998 as a result of monetary crisis.
Government has increased the price of rice and unhulled rice HPP for about 25 percent on Monday. In the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 3 of 2012 on the Policy of Unhulled Rice and Rice Procurement and Rice Distribution by the Government, the price of Dried Unhulled Rice Harvest (GKP) is 3,300 IDR per kilogram in the farmers or about 3,350 IDR in the mill.