If the data had been correct, Indonesia would be awash in rice supplies and President Joko Widodo would have less to worry about. The number rigging, critics say, flies in the face of food self-sufficiency targets that he has been aggressively pursuing since taking office in 2014.

“These numbers are so exaggerated,” said a senior government official who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. “We’re scrambling right now to build stocks in case there’s a failed harvest in February and March.”

Only last month, supply shortages forced the government to import rice hurriedly from Thailand and Vietnam to avoid a surge in prices, which in the past has sparked civil unrest and contributed to the downfall of autocratic leader Suharto.

– REUTERS