Jakarta. The government will soon repay Rp 474.8 billion (nearly $30 million) debt it took from cooking oil producers who were asked to obey the ceiling price two years ago, Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan confirmed on Saturday.

The government imposed a ceiling price of Rp 14,000 per kilogram on cooking oil at a time when the market price exceeded Rp 17,000 during a shortage in early 2022.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also temporarily banned the export of palm oil as he was angered by the edible oil shortage in the country known as the world’s biggest crude palm oil producer.

The price subsidy cost the government a lot of money and accumulated a debt of Rp 474.8 billion to producers.

Luhut said the debt amount has been verified by state auditors, leaving the government with no choice but to repay.

“We will settle the cooking oil debt,” Luhut wrote in an Instagram post. “This is an embarrassment to the government. We shouldn’t let people think that the government cannot repay its debts.”

He argued that government policies must not hurt businesses and their capital base.

“I feel sorry for traders whose capital stopped working due to this incident. It shouldn’t happen again in the future,” Luhut wrote.

Palm oil traders have repeatedly asked the government to repay the debt and even threatened to bring the dispute to court.

Luhut said he will ask Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan to immediately repay the debt and end the two-year dispute.