El Nino Threat Potentially Affects Food Availability, Ministry Says

VIVA – Indonesian Government through the Ministry of Finance feels worried about the risk of an El Nino threat that could potentially hit Indonesia, because this disaster has potential to affect food availability.

Febrio Kacaribu, Head of the Finance Ministry's Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) said the government will focus on maintaining food availability amid the threat of El Nino. 

"The government continues to focus on maintaining food availability, especially the risk of the El Nino threat which affects food productivity," Kacaribu stated in his statement on Wednesday. 

He also said, during Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr 2023, the inflation rate can still be controlled by the Government. Inflation was recorded at 4.33 percent year on year (yoy) in April 2023 or lower than the March 2023 figure which reached 4.97 percent yoy. 

"This figure is also lower than the inflation of the National Religious Holidays (HBKN) Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr 2022. The control of inflation is supported by the maintained movement of food prices and the decline in core and administered price inflation," he explained.

Volatile food inflation fell sharply from the March 2023 figure of 5.83 percent yoy to 3.74 percent yoy in April 2023.

The control of food inflation was also supported by abundant stocks as rice and horticultural commodities were harvested throughout March and April, Kacaribu concluded.