By: Cindy Ramadhani )*
The government has revoked the highest retail price (HET) for cooking oil. This is done so that the distribution and stock of cooking oil will be abundant again in the market.
Cooking oil is a very important staple food because many people need it. Not only housewives but also food sellers. No wonder the price of oil is highly studied by buyers because it has an effect on the contents of the wallet and also the profit of doing business.
Head of the State Intelligence Agency General Pol (Purn) Budi Gunawan explained, “The government’s policy to revoke HET will facilitate the distribution of cooking oil. This is in accordance with the economic law of supply and demand. It will take time to get back to normal as well as close monitoring.”
In a sense, the HET is indeed revoked so that the price of premium oil is in the range of 47,000-48,000 rupiah per 2 liters. However, the public need not worry because this is to facilitate distribution. The proof is that currently the scarcity of cooking oil on the market tends to be minimal and there are no longer any restrictions on its purchase.
People finally understand the government’s intention and it is true that oil is easily found in traditional markets and supermarkets. The distribution was really smooth, unlike last month, where people had to queue up to crowds at minimarkets. There was even a minimarket whose glass door was broken into pieces because it couldn’t withstand the flow of queues of buyers wanting to buy oil before the shop opened.
If the distribution is smooth, it will be a relief because it can be bought easily. People also don’t have to worry about the price of cooking oil because according to economic law, the large supply of goods will lower the price. We just need to wait for time so that oil prices will stabilize again and not too far from the HET that was set some time ago by the government.
Now we are asked, do you want cheap but rare oil so that it is difficult to fry tempeh or the price of oil goes up a little but is easy to find in the market? Of course I will choose the second one because these basic necessities are clearly needed by the community. Housewives are not worried because the price of oil is rising, the important thing is that they can cook. After all, they are optimistic that the price can go down again.
If the distribution of oil is smooth, there will be no hoarding, because they are certain to lose. The reason is that the price of cooking oil is predicted to fall again, so they will not hoard and trouble the community.
The distribution of oil really needs to be improved because when the HET for cooking oil is only 28,000 per 2 liters, rogue traders actually export it to earn big profits. However, when the HET was revoked and there was an increase in export costs, they canceled it, because it was more for selling in Indonesia. In this way, the distribution of cooking oil will be smooth again.
For people who are less able to buy premium palm cooking oil, it is advisable to shop at traditional markets, because bulk cooking oil is available there. The price is still subsidized, aka only 14,000 rupiah per liter. So there is a solution for cooking or producing fried foods and selling them again at affordable prices.
The lifting of the highest retail price for cooking oil did not make people panic because they could temporarily switch to bulk oil. The community understands that the revocation of HET does not mean being stingy on subsidies. But a very powerful way to return to normalize the distribution of cooking oil to markets throughout Indonesia.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
