REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Garlic prices soar up to 100,000 IDR per kilogram. Coordinating Minister of Economy, Hatta Rajasa, instructed Minister of Agriculture Suswono and Minister of Trade Gita Wirjawan to hold tallks.

"I ask them to revise ministerial regulation of Agriculture and Trade ministries on garlic," Rajasa said on Wednesday.

Rajasa said both ministers must also discuss the trade regulation to maintain the sufficient garlic supplies. Currently, domestic farmers can supply only five percent of garlic demand in Indonesia. "It is unusual that garlic can push inflation up to 0.17-0.21 out of 0.75 percent. We have to overcome this problem," he said.

He added that Indonesia could import the commodity if the country was short of domestic supply. Should government do the move, government can control the import as long as it does not distort the market.

He also said that the plan for self-sufficient food must be suspended to maintain the supply of food staple. "We have to control the inflation. We cannot let high inflation decreases the people's buying power," he said.

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