Indonesia to ban exports of cooking oil to reduce shortages

A vendor shows packs of cooking oil at his stall at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia (Achmad Ibrahim/AP)

Indonesia will ban exports of cooking oil and its raw materials to reduce domestic shortages and hold down skyrocketing prices, President Joko Widodo announced on Friday, a day after hundreds of people protested in the capital against rising food costs.

The ban begins next Thursday and will continue for an undetermined length of time, he said.