Rising Food Prices worry Indonesians

With Presidential elections around the corner, Indonesians are worried about the rising food prices. Jokowi Widodo's economic policy has been blamed for the price hike in staple food. Vendors and customers express concerns that food is no longer within their reach.

A rice vendor, Husni Abillah said the price of rice had skyrocketed and blamed imports. "This is what happens when we import rice, the prices remain high regardless of how much our farmers produce and our businesses are affected." Husni said the import of rice should be reduced, as the imports have unnecessarily taken the place of locally produced rice.

The price of staple food is an important point of contention in Indonesia and that too during the campaigning period for the 2019 Presidential Election. Prabowo Subianto, former army general is challenging Widodo for the presidency. Prabowo has blamed Jokowi for the inflation of food prices.

Meanwhile, Bhima Yudhistira, an economist said seasonal factors should be blamed than an economic policy of the incumbent president. Bhima said inflation has been very low in the last four years. "If there is inflation in the second quarter, I don't think it is related to the election, it could more likely be due to seasonal factors like Ramadan and Hari Raya. However, Prabowo continues to blame Jokowi's agriculture policies for rising imports of commodities such as sugar, wheat and corn which adversely impacted the market for locally produced crops. If elected, he has promised that prices of daily necessities like food will be reduced in his first 100 days in office, by halting imports of food crops to help local farmers.

Also Read: Indonesia Needs Multicultural Unity Not Division by Religious Identity