Malang. The government recently said that Indonesia had no plans to import rice as the country still had enough supply of the staple food to feed its sizable population.

According to Deputy Agriculture Minister Sudaryono, the government's rice reserves currently reach 4.3 million tons.

"We have about 4.3 million tons of rice reserved in [the warehouses of the state logistics agency] Bulog. So if there are reports that state we have to import, that's not true," Sudaryono said in Malang on Wednesday.

According to Sudaryono, Indonesia will only import food if it cannot produce enough supplies at home, citing wheat and soya bean as some of the examples. 

"What we are aiming for is to reduce import from year to year while boosting domestic production. We no longer import rice, corn, as well as the sugar and salt that is meant for consumption," Sudaryono said.

Bulog currently distributes around 3,000 tons of rice a day, although there are plans to raise the daily distribution to 7,000 tons. The supplies come from the previous harvest season. Sudaryono told the press that the government would tighten monitoring of its distribution to avoid any violations. The government aims to distribute 1.3 million tons of rice by the end of the year with a price cap of Rp 12,500 ($0.78) per kilogram.

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