GOVT RAISES UPPER RETAIL PRICES OF SUBSIDIZED FERTILIZERS

Jakarta, Apr 8 (ANTARA) - The government decided on Thursday to raise the upper retail price of subsidized fertilizers by 30-35 percent effective April 9.

Agriculture Minister Suswono said the decision was designed to increase the efficient use of fertilizers and reduce market distortion as a result of disparities in the prices of subsidized and non subsidized fertilizers.

In addition, it was also aimed at saving foreign exchange reserves in the procurement of imported phosphor and kalium as raw materials to produce fertilizers, he said.
Under the decision, the upper retail price of urea fertilizer was raised to Rp1,600 from Rp1,200 a kg, that of SP-36 fertilizer to Rp2,000 from Rp1,550 a kg, that of ZA fertilizer to Rp1,400 from Rp1,050 a kg and that of NPK fertilizer to Rp2,300 from Rp1,586 a kg.

The minister said the decision had accommodated the aspirations of farmer's organizations including the Indonesian Farmers Solidarity Association (HKTI), the Indonesian Farmers Union, the Indonesian Association of Smallholder Sugarcane Producers, and the Farmer Council.

He gave the assurance that there would be no fertilizer shortages this year because fertilizer stocks were enough to meet farmers' needs.

He likewise asked the fertilizer and pesticide supervisory commission, regional governments and the public to supervise the distribution of subsidized fertilizers more intensively.

The country now has an estimated 7 million tons of fertilizers in stocks.