Indonesia: Govt to double down on price controls for cooking oil, raise DMO for CPO

  • The government has announced it will strengthen enforcement of the price ceiling on cooking oil after finding that the staple commodity was being sold above the cap in many places.
  • During a visit to the Kebayoran Lama Market in South Jakarta, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said no seller there was complying with the price ceiling. Instead, they had raised prices to make gains, he alleged, in a practice that was common at traditional markets.
  • Breaches of the price ceiling occurred in part as a result of speculation among sellers about a plan by the government to scrap the price cap, according to Lutfi.
  • Apparently seeking to dispel such speculation, the minister said the price cap would remain in place for no less than a year. “We are still waiting for prices to come down, and I will involve law enforcement officers to make sure the price ceiling applies at both [supermarkets] and traditional markets,” Lutfi told reporters at the market.
  • The price of bulk cooking oil sold at traditional markets in Jakarta, for example, reached IDR18,300 per litre in late Jan 22, Trade Ministry data show.
  • While it fell to IDR15,850 per litre on 8 Mar 22, it remains far above the cap. The government set the price cap at IDR11,500 per litre for bulk cooking oil, IDR13,500 for cooking oil with simple packaging and IDR14,000 per litre for cooking oil sold in premium packaging.
  • Some provinces recorded even higher prices, such as IDR20,850 per liter in North Maluku, IDR19,300 in Lampung and IDR19,150 in West Kalimantan.

External Link : https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2022/03/09/govt-to-double-down-on-cooking-oil-prices-raise-dmo-for-cpo.html

10-Mar-2022