The Indonesian Government hasput aside 2 trillion rupiah (173.18 million USD) to ensure food safety,as part of efforts to prepare for the potential recurrence of weatherphenomenon El Nino that is expected to hit the country in June or July.

Of the total, a bout 1 trillion rupiah will beused to boost rice stockpiles at state-owned logistics firm Bulog from400,000 tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes, Coordinating Economic Minister ofIndonesia Hatta Rajasa said.

The Indonesian government hasrecently allowed Bulog to import 328,000 tonnes of white sugar forhousehold consumption to meet a shortage of 340,000 tonnes, according toIndonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono.

Bulog will increasestockpiles of sugar, palm oil and cocoa, he said, adding that the fundswill also be used to mitigate the impact of worsening droughts.

The country’s paddy rice output has been lowered from 76 million tonnesto 73 million tonnes, while soybean output has been cut from 1.5million tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes, said Suswono.

David Dawe, aBangkok-based senior economist at the United Nations’ Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO), said that Indonesia and thePhilippines might be the countries most affected by El Nino.According to a recent report by the Indonesian Statistics Department,the country’s GDP in the first quarter of this year rose 5.21 percentyear on year. This is the lowest growth since the third quarter of 2009,it added.-VNA