Govt raises retail price and excise for cigarette<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite strong protests from many cigarette companies, the
\ngovernment has decided to go ahead with its plan to raise retail
\nprices and excise rates for cigarettes.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Finance signed on Thursday a decree to raise
\nthe retail prices and excise rates starting next month.<\/p>\n
\"The increase will take effect in November and excise revenue
\nfrom the new pricing scheme will be included in the 2003 state
\nbudget,\" director general of customs and excise Eddy Abdurrahman
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
In the draft 2003 state budget, the government plans to rake
\nin some Rp 27.6 trillion (around US$3.4 billion) in revenue from
\nexcise, of which Rp 25.9 trillion, or around 94 percent, is
\nexpected to come from cigarette sales.<\/p>\n
The figure is an increase from this year's total excise target
\nof Rp 22.3 trillion.<\/p>\n
Under the decree, the retail price for machine-rolled clove
\ncigarettes made by Class I producers increases to Rp 75 per (0.8
\nUS cents) per cigarette, while prices for similar products made
\nby Class II producers is raised to Rp 60 per cigarette and those
\nmade by Class III producers to Rp 50 per cigarette.<\/p>\n
The same price increases will be applied to machine-rolled
\nnon-clove cigarettes.<\/p>\n
The Class I producers refer to those with a production
\ncapacity above 2 billion cigarettes, Class II between 500,000 to
\n2 billion and Class III below 500 million cigarettes.<\/p>\n
Prices for hand-rolled clove cigarettes made by Class I
\nproducers increases to Rp 60 per cigarette, while the new price
\nfor those made by Class II producers is Rp 50 per cigarette, and
\nthe price for those made by the Class III producers is Rp 40 per
\ncigarette.<\/p>\n
The price for hand-rolled clove cigarettes made by home
\nindustries was set at Rp 25 per cigarette.<\/p>\n
As for the excise, the rate increase is only imposed on Class
\nI hand-rolled cigarettes, from a previous 20 percent to 22
\npercent.<\/p>\n
Excise for Class II cigarettes remains unchanged at 16 percent
\nand the Class III cigarettes at 8 percent.<\/p>\n
In August, many cigarette companies, backed by the Ministry of
\nIndustry and Trade, appealed to the Ministry of Finance not to
\nraise the prices and excise on cigarettes in 2003, saying it
\nwould hit demand and their revenue. This, in turn, could lead to
\nthe bankruptcy for many cigarette companies.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-raises-retail-price-and-excise-for-cigarette-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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