Government cancels import of 600,000 tons of rice
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution has stated that the government has canceled the import of 600,000 tons of rice. He explained that as of August, the government had imported 1.4 million tons of rice from the full-year plan to import 2 million tons, while exporting countries could not meet the schedule for the remaining 600,000 tons, decided upon in a coordination meeting in April. Darmin’s statement was made following an open debate between state-owned logistics company Bulog president director Budi Waseso and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita on the issue, during which Budi said the country did not need to import rice until June 2019. Darmin called on all relevant officials not to criticize the rice import decision made during the coordination meeting. “In my opinion, it is not necessary to have a noisy debate. If we did not import we were in trouble. The decision was made based on careful considerations,” said Darmin on Wednesday as reported Previously, Budi explained t