Government Yet To Control Food Prices

Jakarta, Feb 4 (Antara) - The government is yet to control the fluctuating food commodity prices, evident from the high inflation rate in January 2014 as reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), according to a legislator. "The high inflation rate, which was reported by the BPS, has indicated that the government has not been able to control the fluctuating food commodity prices," sated a House member from Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP), Arif Budimanta here, on Tuesday. BPS reported on Monday that the government`s policy to raise the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) price was among the key contributors that increased the inflation rate by 1.07 percent in January 2014, leaving the year on year inflation at 8.22 percent. According to BPS, the policy to hike the price of non-subsidized LPG in the 12-kg cylinder category had affected the inflation rate in the 81 cities surveyed for the consumer price index (IHK). The other commodities that contributed to the January 2014 inflation rate were fresh fish (0.12 percent), red chili (0.08 percent), purebred chicken (0.06 percent), eggs (0.06 percent), rice (0.05 percent) and tomato (0.03 percent), he pointed out. The other contributors included preserved fish (0.02 percent), carrot (0.02 percent), leafy vegetables (0.02 percent), bird eye chili (0.02 percent), gold jewelry (0.02 percent), gasoline (0.02 percent) and cars (0.02 percent). Overall, the foodstuff group contributed 0.56 percent to the inflation rate in January 2014, followed by the group comprising housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel contributing 0.25 percent, and the group of processed foods, drinks, cigarettes, and tobacco contributing 0.12 percent. "Such a high inflation rate will impact the poor community, because they spend most of their income on food stuffs priced at exorbitant rates," Arif noted. Therefore, he stated that the government should take up the responsibility of controlling the fluctuating food commodity prices and to ensure the availability of food supply.