Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati issued a warning about potential inflationary pressures driven by rising staple food prices, particularly rice. She delivered this statement during a Working Meeting of Committee IV with the Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas, the Finance Minister, and the Governor of Bank Indonesia on Tuesday (9/2/2025).

She noted that national inflation remains under control, with headline inflation recorded at 2.31% in August 2025, accompanied by deflation in the same month.

“Volatile food inflation can be managed, but we must remain vigilant regarding price pressures from food commodities, especially rice,” Sri Mulyani said.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August 2025 showed a deflation of 0.08%. On a year-on-year basis, inflation stood at 2.31%.

Deflation was mainly driven by the food, beverages, and tobacco group, which recorded a deflation of 0.29% and contributed 0.08%. The largest contributor was bird’s eye chili, accounting for 0.07%.

Other items contributing to deflation included air transportation fares (0.03%) and gasoline (0.02%). Meanwhile, inflationary pressures came from shallots and rice, contributing 0.05% and 0.03%, respectively. Additional factors included tuition fees for higher education, jewelry gold prices, and elementary school fees.

BPS data also showed that rice prices rose across all levels of trade in August 2025, from milling to wholesale and retail.

In the previous month, rice prices at the milling level reached IDR 13,569/kg, marking a 1.87% increase compared to July 2025’s price of IDR 13,346/kg.

To curb price hikes, the government distributed 43,665 tons of rice under the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program on Saturday (8/30/2025) as part of the Affordable Food Movement (GPM).

Distribution took place across thousands of locations nationwide, with the main event held at the Ministry of Agriculture office in Jakarta. This initiative is part of the government’s target to distribute 1.3 million tons of SPHP rice from July to December 2025.