Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government will soon distribute rice and cooking oil assistance to 33.2 million beneficiary families nationwide as part of government efforts to stabilise food prices and protect household purchasing power, the head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) said on Tuesday.
Bapanas Chief Andi Amran Sulaiman told lawmakers during a meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta that the assistance programme is a key policy tool to cushion consumers from price volatility.
“Each beneficiary family will receive 10 kilograms of rice and two litres of cooking oil per month, with distribution handled by state logistics firm Bulog,” Sulaiman said, outlining the basic structure of the aid scheme.
The government has agreed to distribute the assistance in a single delivery covering two months at once, namely for February and March 2026, in order to improve efficiency and ensure timely support.
The planned coverage of 33.2 million families for the two-month period represents an 81.9 percent increase from the previous programme, which reached 18.2 million households on a monthly basis.
To implement the distribution, Bulog will release 664,800 tonnes of rice and 132,900 kilolitres of cooking oil. The government has allocated Rp11.92 trillion (US$710.8 million) to fund the programme.
Sulaiman said the scale of the allocation underlined the government’s commitment to safeguarding public purchasing power, particularly ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the 2026 Eid al-Fitr holiday.
He added that the assistance is expected to act as an economic stimulus, helping to sustain consumer spending while keeping food inflation stable and under control during the seasonal demand surge.
At the same meeting, Bulog President Director Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani confirmed the agency’s readiness to carry out the nationwide distribution ahead of Eid al-Fitr.
Indonesia has previously rolled out similar food assistance programmes in coordination between Bapanas and Bulog, implemented in two phases throughout 2025.
During the first phase, covering June and July 2025, the government distributed 10 kilograms of rice per month to 18.2 million beneficiary families across the country.
In the second phase, covering October and November, the assistance package was expanded to include two litres of cooking oil, while maintaining the same number of beneficiaries.
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