Sri Mulyani Warns of Ongoing Commodity Price Contraction Trend in 2024

February 22, 2024, 11.05 PM | Reporter: Siti Masitoh

ILUSTRASI. Workers carry rice to be transported on trucks at the Bulog Gorontalo Branch warehouse, Gorontalo City, Gorontalo, Tuesday (20/2/2024). Gorontalo Branch of Bulog has a stock of 1,213 tons of rice in three warehouses to meet the community's rice needs, food reserve allocation, and rice price stabilization and food supply (SPHP) in Gorontalo Province. BETWEEN PHOTOS/Adiwinata Solihin/tom.

FOOD PRICE – JAKARTA. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is wary of the dynamics of global commodity prices that are still sluggish until this year. Currently, the global economic condition is weakening and causing demand to decrease which will impact the domestic economy.

“The weakening development of the global economy causes demand to also start to weaken. Thus affecting the level or price rate of various commodities,” said Sri Mulyani, on Thursday (22/2).

She detailed, that some commodity prices that are still experiencing a weakening trend include natural gas prices which have contracted or fallen 37.9% since the beginning of the year or year to date (YtD). Coal prices corrected 18.5% YtD,

Then the price of wheat contracted by 10.7% YtD and the price of soybeans contracted by 10% YtD.

Meanwhile, commodity prices that are still relatively increasing include crude palm oil (CPO) up 1.1% YtD, oil up 7.5% YtD, and rice prices increased by 5.9%.

“Crude oil prices have increased due to tensions in Gaza and the Red Sea,” said the Finance Minister.

Furthermore, Sri Mulyani conveyed that, from the trend of weakening commodity prices, the government will continue to be vigilant because it has the potential to affect the performance of the Indonesian economy.