JAYAPURA - The Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Home Affairs appreciates the Papua Provincial Government for successfully controlling inflation.

The easternmost province in Indonesia even got out of the red record of the top 10 regions with the highest inflation.

"From the data we collected until last week, the Papua Provincial Government is not included in the top 10 governments that cannot control inflation."

"But it does not mean that it has to be relaxed, this must be maintained through the cheap food movement that the Papua Provincial Government is currently carrying out with the National Food Agency, Logistic Affairs Agency and Bank Indonesia Representatives," explained the Inspector General of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Alex Saputra, when reviewing the Cheap Food Movement in the courtyard of the Autonomous Office, Kotaraja, Friday (5/7/2024).

Head of the Papua Provincial Crops, Horticulture and Food Service Samuel Siriwa said that he would continue to intensively carry out the cheap food movement to reduce the inflation rate in Papua.

"The cheap food movement aims to stabilize prices and maintain food supply, as well as help people's purchasing power," he explained.

In the cheap food movement, various basic necessities are sold below market prices. For five-kilogram packaged SPHP rice is sold for IDR 65 thousand. Bulk cooking oil is 15 thousand per litre and chicken eggs are IDR 68 thousand. The cheap food movement has been carried out by the Papua Provincial Government 15 times at some places.

"We will continue to boost this activity and we are grateful for the past control coordination meeting by the Papuan Ministry of Home Affairs in third place which succeeded in controlling inflation."

"In the future, we target cheap food movement activities to be held every three months by involving distributors of basic materials," he concluded. ***