JAKARTA: In a Jakarta suburb, dozens of customers, mostly women, stood in long queues to buy government subsidised rice after a severe drought last year curbed production and sent prices of the staple surging across Indonesia.
Among those jostling for their sack of rice at a market run by the state food procurement agency Bulog in Bekasi City, 25km east of the capital, was 55-year-old coconut vendor Masih.
"It's better to get into the queue even if I have to jostle because I want to have rice," she told Reuters. "It is expensive in the market, so better to get it cheap here."
Global rice prices are trading near 16-year highs after India, the world's top supplier, restricted exports last year.
Rice is a staple for most of Indonesia's 270 million people and the price has climbed more than 16% since last year, as El Nino weather reduced rainfall across large parts of Asia in 2023, hitting cereal output and sparking food inflation pressure for some of the world's most price-sensitive consumers.
The Indonesian government typically steps in to sell food products at subsidised prices when prices climb and hit consumers.
At Bekasi's state subsidised market, rice is sold at 10,600 rupiah per kg, and packed in 5 kg sacks, compared with 14,300 rupiah in the open market.
Bulog limits sales to two sacks per customer to prevent hoarding.
It has distributed more than 300,000 tons of rice from government reserves since January through hundreds of such markets around the country, following reports of scarcity at modern retail outlets.
Nearly 430 of these markets were set up in January, and Bulog plans to hold another 315 by the end of February.
The national agency said it will continue this rice assistance programme till March.
Indonesia, which imported record volumes of rice in 2023, has allocated additional quota of 1.6 million metric tons, on top of 2 million tons previously approved for 2024, potentially triggering further gains in global prices. — Reuters