Agriculture sector to rebound next year
Former Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih predicted that commodity prices, currently in steep decline, will begin to reach positive trends by the end of next year’s first half.
By that time, said Saragih during a seminar on agribusiness, domestic and global prices will reach a new equilibrium as consumers adjust to new prices.
He also said that the current decline in agricultural commodity prices is offset by lower transport costs due to even steeper decline in fuel prices and the depreciation of the Rupiah against the greenback.
Commentator Tungkot Sipayung of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, who also spoke during the seminar, agreed that the agricultural sector is overall in a better shape than other sectors during the current crisis. He argued that demands in this sector are still strong as Asian markets are seeing a growing middle class that resulted from solid economic growth in the region during the last five years.
He further encouraged the government to steer the direction of Indonesian exports toward the Asian market.
Government spokesperson Bayu Krisnamurthi said on the same occasion that the crisis will nonetheless affect the domestic market, and as such agribusiness investors need to be prepared with a downturn strategy, at least during the next six to eight months.
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