Bulog's "Obesity" and Potential Maladministration in Rice Management are in the Spotlight

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — "Obesity" or the accumulation of rice stocks at Perum Bulog and the suboptimal distribution of rice for Supply and Price Stabilization has become a focus of attention for various parties. In fact, the Indonesian Ombudsman sees a potential for maladministration in the government's rice management.

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) addressed the issue during a public hearing (RDP) with Commission IV of the DPR, which was held in a hybrid format in Jakarta on Thursday (4/9/2025). Furthermore, in the RDP, Bapanas revealed the possibility that the government's rice reserves (CBP), particularly those sourced from imports, could be redirected for commercial rice use.

Member of Commission IV of the DPR, Firman Soebagyo, stated that the government's rice stock at Bulog is approximately 4 million tons. However, this abundant stock has not yet been optimally utilized for rice market operations with the Stabilization of Supply and Food Prices (SPHP) rice.

This occurred due to the government's sluggishness in distributing SPHP rice. The government should have a sound planning policy regarding the management of rice entering and exiting the Bulog warehouses.

"What's the point of the government having large rice reserves if market availability is minimal and prices are high? Therefore, Bulog's rice inflow and outflow planning policy must be clear," he said.

Firman continued, explaining that the unclear rice inflow and outflow policy from Bulog could lead to a decline in the quality of Bulog's rice. This is because some of Bulog's rice is sourced from last year's imports and unhusked rice of any quality, meaning it lacks quality standards.

The government is asked not to display Bulog rice, but to rotate it to prevent it from degrading in quality and becoming damaged.

Chairperson of Commission IV of the DPR, Siti Hediati Hariyadi, also known as Titiek Soeharto, shares a similar opinion. She stated that she has repeatedly reminded the government not to treat Bulog rice as mere decoration, but to circulate it to prevent its quality from deteriorating and becoming damaged.

"Since February 2025, I have already reminded about this. If it is stored for too long, especially for a year, the rice can spoil and ultimately be discarded. This can be detrimental to the state. For 100,000 tons of rice that is disposed of (degraded and no longer usable as food), the loss is approximately Rp 1.2 trillion," said Titiek.

According to data from Bapanas, as of September 3, 2025, Bulog's rice stock amounts to 3.95 million tons. This stock consists of 3.94 million tons in the form of government rice reserves (CBP) and 15,207 tons in commercial stock. Of the total CBP, approximately 1.5 million tons were sourced from rice imports last year.

On September 3, 2025, the Indonesian Ombudsman assessed that the recent increase in rice prices was not due to a shortage of stock, but rather to suboptimal management of the rice sector. The Ombudsman even mentioned the potential for maladministration in the management of national rice affairs.

The potential for maladministration includes the risk of CBP disposal, distribution of substandard SPHP rice, and limited rice availability in modern retail outlets. Furthermore, this potential also includes rice prices remaining above the highest retail price (HET) and abuse of authority in CBP management.

The preliminary conclusion refers to the results of monitoring conducted by the Ombudsman at 88 rice mills in 28 provinces, Cipinang Rice Wholesale Market, 137 traditional retail outlets in 25 provinces, and several modern retail outlets in the Greater Jakarta area. This monitoring was carried out throughout August 2025.

A member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Yeka Hendra Fatika, stated that the results showed that out of 59 rice mills producing rice, 9.1 percent had not received a supply of unhusked rice in the past month. Compared to August 2024, there was a decrease in the purchase of harvested dry unhusked rice (GKP) at all levels of milling by an average of 13.5 percent.

Furthermore, the policy of purchasing any quality of unhusked rice has also reduced the average yield of dry milled rice (GKG) by 1.34 percent at all milling levels. The reduced supply of unhusked rice and the decline in GKG yield have the potential to reduce rice quality and production.

"We also found that out of 35 modern retailers in Jabodetabek, 8 retailers had no rice stock available for sale and only 2 retailers sold SPHP rice. This means that the distribution of SPHP rice in modern retail is still not optimal," he stated.

Of the total 3.9 million tons of CBP managed by Bulog, there are more than 1.2 million tons of rice that are older than six months.

The Ombudsman, Yeka continued, also found premium rice sold in modern retail at prices ranging from Rp 14,700 per kilogram to Rp 32,400 per kilogram. Some of this premium rice was sold above the government-established highest retail price (HET) for premium rice based on zoning, which is Rp 14,900 per kilogram to Rp 15,900 per kilogram.

The Ombudsman also considers the condition of the abundant CBP to be very concerning. Of the total 3.9 million tons of CBP managed by Bulog, there are more than 1.2 million tons of rice that are over six months old.

"This situation has the potential to result in the disposal of up to 300,000 tons, with a rough estimate of state losses of around IDR 4 trillion," he said.

In addition, Yeka also revealed that the realization of the distribution of SPHP rice until the end of August 2025 has only reached 302,000 tons, or about 20 percent of the target of 1.5 million tons for January-December 2025. The average daily distribution of this rice is only 2,392 tons, which is far from the minimum distribution target of 7,000 tons per day.

On the other hand, from January to the end of August 2025, the realization of rice assistance for low-income families has reached 360,000 tons or 98.62 percent. Although the percentage is high, the amount of rice distributed is lower compared to the year 2024.

According to Yeka, the distribution of SPHP rice and rice assistance is still not optimal, thus failing to suppress rice prices, which generally remain above the HET. The accumulation of CBP in Bulog warehouses has also not been addressed optimally.

"This situation could increase the cost of managing the CBP at Bulog. This includes procuring any quality of unhusked rice, storing up to 4 million tons of stock, and distributing the CBP. The total estimated potential state loss due to this rice management is estimated at Rp 3 trillion," he said.

To that end, Yeka emphasized that the Indonesian Ombudsman will continue its initiative for an investigation on its own accord. This investigation will focus on CBP. The process may take around two to three months moving forward.

During the investigation, the government is expected to focus on optimizing the distribution of SPHP rice and rice assistance until the end of December 2025. This is also aimed at maintaining the quality of the CBP that is accumulating in Bulog warehouses.

Based on data from Bapanas, from January 2025 to September 3, 2025, the government has distributed 726,401 million tons of CBP. The distribution of CBP includes several needs, such as market operations through SPHP rice, rice assistance for low-income families, and disaster response.

Arief explained that the government aims to distribute SPHP rice amounting to 1.5 million tons throughout this year. The realization of rice distribution in January-March 2025 and July-December 2025 reached 181,169 tons and 128,186 tons, respectively.

The government will continue to distribute the SPHP rice until the end of this year. This effort aims to mitigate the rise in rice prices while also addressing the accumulation of CBP in Bulog warehouses.

Arief also acknowledged that to maintain the quality of Bulog rice, ideally Bulog should have a rice stock of 1.5 million tons by the end of 2025. Subsequently, this rice stock should be replenished during the rice harvest in March and April 2025.

With a CBP of 3.94 million tons and an ideal year-end stock of 1.5 million tons, this means that Bulog must distribute a rice stock of 2.44 million tons. However, in the distribution of rice, Bulog faces several challenges.

Last year, Arief continued, the distribution of SPHP rice was very massive because the government also distributed it to small rice mills using 50 kg capacity sacks. However, this year, the Audit Board of Indonesia recommended that the government distribute it in 5 kg packaging.

"The goal is to avoid potential misappropriation of SPHP rice and state losses," he said.

The conversion of CBP into commercial rice needs to be carefully studied and calculated to ensure that Bulog does not incur losses. It should not be the case that only the rice mills or companies distributing commercial rice benefit from this.

In addition, Arief also revealed the potential and challenges faced by Bulog in distributing commercial rice, which has been discussed in a limited coordination meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs. Currently, Bulog's commercial rice amounts to only 48,000 tons. If this rice is to be distributed, the quantity is too small, and the selling price needs to be calculated to ensure that Bulog does not incur losses.

Another option is to transfer stocks or convert imported CBP into commercial rice. Currently, the amount of CBP sourced from imports is 1.5 million tons, with a quality equivalent to premium rice, which has a broken rice content of 5 percent.

The government is still discussing and examining whether the CBP sourced from imports can be mixed with other rice and sold commercially. This assessment is important considering that Bulog would incur losses if it sells it at a price of Rp 11,000-Rp 12,000 per kg or even at the price of the imported rice at Rp 10,400 per kg.

"This needs to be carefully studied and calculated so that Bulog does not incur losses. There are state subsidies and bank interest that Bulog must pay there. We must not let the profit go to the rice mills or companies distributing commercial rice," he said.