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Tobacco farmer association wants 6% cigarette price hike
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A tobacco farmer works at his farm in Randuagung village, Jember, East Java. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
T
he Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI) has recommended that the government increase the cigarette excise by between 5 to 6 percent this year to maintain the continuity of supply in the industry.
The Finance Ministry is currently considering input from related ministries, such as the Agriculture Ministry, Health Ministry and Trade Ministry, as well as health organizations and tobacco association, regarding the plan to increase the cigarette excise in 2017.
"If the excise is raised, it should be in accordance with the inflation rate of 5 to 6 percent so the industry continues to grow and state revenues can also be maintained," APTI chairman Soeseno Riban said in Jakarta on Thursday.
He claimed that many tobacco farmers had gone out of business after the excise increase of 11 percent last year.
Finance ministry director general of excises Heru Pambudi explained that the government would announce the cigarette excise increase within the next 3 months to give all parties the chance to make adjustments.
However, he denied that the government would increase the cigarette price to about Rp 50,000 (US$3.77) from the current average price of 15,000 as proposed by the University of Indonesia’s Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies (PKEKK) after the plan was discussed at the Indonesian Health Economics Association (InaHEA) congress in Yogyakarta last month. (bbn)
