Indonesia's finance minister says palm oil export ban will hurt other countries, but necessary

ndonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati answers questions during an interview at the World Bank in Washington, United States, April 22, 2022. - Reuters

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters): Indonesia's new palm oil export ban will hurt other countries but is necessary to try to bring down the soaring domestic price of cooking oil driven up by Russia's war in Ukraine, Indonesia's finance minister told Reuters during a special interview.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that with demand exceeding supplies, the ban announced earlier on Friday is "among the harshest moves" the government could take after previous measures failed to stabilize domestic prices.