Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for the Maritime and Investment Affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said the Indonesian government is preparing a plan to change the highest retail price (HET) for rice. The plan includes simplifying the rice quality classes from premium and medium categories to two types: regular and special rice.
According to Luhut, the government has held a coordination meeting regarding the establishment of a single price for rice. However, the final decision is still pending the approval of President Prabowo Subianto.
"We have held a meeting, and of course, we will report to the President first," said Luhut in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
He emphasized that the government already has the latest HET for rice. However, he could not disclose it yet. "There is already an HET, but it cannot be announced before reporting to the President," he said.
On the other hand, the Head of the National Food Board (Bapanas), Arief Prasetyo Adi, stressed that changes in the HET for rice cannot be rushed. He considers rice as a highly sensitive commodity, so any policy must consider the balance between the upstream and downstream sectors.
"Because rice is very sensitive. We must not make decisions that do not balance the upstream and downstream. It may seem like just a Rp 100, Rp 200, Rp 500 increase, but this affects 280 million people. So, we must not make mistakes in deciding," said Arief.
Arief emphasized that the idea of removing the classification of medium and premium rice is not an instruction from President Prabowo Subianto. He mentioned that the initiative came from related ministries and institutions. "This is purely our initiative in the ministry and institutions, so that the problem of rice does not continue to linger as it is now," he said.
Arief explained that Bapanas had previously submitted several options regarding the elimination of the medium and premium rice classification to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. According to him, the policy to be decided later will be adjusted to the interests of the public.
"If everything is eliminated, it means there will be no more premium category. Rice is rice. It is included in the alternatives," he said.
Arief emphasized that the final decision regarding the simplification of rice quality classes still lies with the President and the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs. "It remains to be seen what decision will be made by Mr. Minister along with the President," he said.
The government has officially decided to simplify the quality classification of rice, previously consisting of premium and medium, into two categories, namely regular and special rice.
In this new scheme, the highest retail price or HET of regular rice will still be determined by the government as the maximum limit in the market. Meanwhile, the price of special rice will not be directly regulated by the government, but business actors are required to have a certificate for the special rice brand marketed.
This policy will be incorporated into the revision of two regulations: the National Food Board Regulation (Bapanas) Number 2 of 2023 concerning Quality Requirements and Rice Labels, and the National Food Board Regulation Number 5 of 2024, which amends National Food Board Regulation Number 7 of 2023 concerning the Highest Retail Price (HET) of Rice.
In the Bapanas Regulation Number 2 of 2023, rice was previously divided into four quality classes, namely premium, medium, submedium, and broken. It also regulated special rice categories such as local variety rice, organic rice, fortified rice, rice with geographical indications, health claim rice, and certain imported rice such as basmati, hom mali, jasmine, and japonica.
Meanwhile, National Food Board Regulation Number 5 of 2024 stipulates the HET of medium and premium rice in various regions of Indonesia. The price of medium rice is set between Rp 12,500 to Rp 13,500 per kilogram, while premium rice is in the range of Rp 14,900 to Rp 15,800 per kilogram.
Annisa Febiola contributed to the writing of this article.
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