Jakarta, April 25 -- The Indonesian Government will not resort to imports to control the current hike in prices of shallots, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan stated on Thursday.

"There will be no imports of shallots. No, we should not allow that," he remarked after attending a post-Eid friendly meeting at the Trade Ministry's Office, Jakarta.

He made the statement when asked about the possibility of the government importing shallots to deal with the soaring prices of the commodity in the country.

According to data from the National Food Agency (Bapanas), as of Thursday, the national average price of shallots stood at Rp53,500 (US$3.28) per kilogram. The highest price, Rp81,620 (US$5.04) per kg, was recorded in Central Papua, while the ...