Inp.polri.go.id – Jakarta. Head of National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo clarified that the Social Aid Program (Bansos) is not the culprit behind the rising price of rice in the market. “Do not say that [Bansos] depletes rice national stock, it is completely false. We have separated their stocks. The main reason why the price of rice in the market rocketed is because our national harvest for harvest is below 1 million ton,” clarify Aried on Wednesday (2/28/2024). He further explained that the rice for bansos was taken from Bulog Warehouse, which has its specific mandate to be delivered for social aid. Arief stressed that it is taken directly from the warehouse, not from local harvest. Meanwhile, the government is accelerating the effort in adding more Bulog rice stocks ahead of Ramadan. Arief states that during the Plenary Cabinet Session on Monday. President Jokowi asked his ministries and institutions to focus on preparing food stocks to prevent scarcity or price instability. It is worth noting that the rice stock in Bulog Warehouse must be at least 1.2 tons, while according to the latest data, there is only 800 thousand tons of rice. The government is looking for additional 1.6 tons of rice stocks from import to prevent rice scarcity. (ad/rz/pr/nm)