REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Minister of Trade Rachmat Gobel stated that government would no longer import pepper. The move following the information that domestic pepper farmers will harvest their crops. 

"We have discussed pepper problems with Ministry of Agriculture. We will not import pepper until the end of this year," Gobel said on Tuesday, December 30.

The minister said that the move would make local farmers enjoying rising pepper prices. He believes that rising pepper prices helped farmers prosper. "We give them optimism so that they want to plant pepper," he said.

The price of peppers is soaring above government's reference price. Ministry of Trade has set the price of red pepper in 26,3000 IDR per kilogram. Gobel said that the raising price due to supply and demand. Several areas producing peppers suffer drought while the demand is raising.

The raising pepper price is among the factors of inflation in December. Bank Indonesia (BI) predicts inflation in December reaches 2.2 percent.

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