Advanced! Purbaya to Install Automatic Cigarette Counting Machines Next Week

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has revealed the government will deploy sophisticated machines capable of counting cigarette production at each company, connected directly to the Ministry of Finance’s central office. “Soon, Customs and Excise will run machines to detect cigarette counts automatically, linked to the centre,” Purbaya said during a state budget press conference at the Ministry of Finance’s headquarters in Jakarta on Friday. Purbaya stated the machines will be implemented starting next week. The target is for all automatic production counting machines at every Tobacco Products Industry (IHT) company to be completed within the next six months. According to him, with these machines, there will no longer be any leakage of excise revenue in the IHT sector. “Later, the cigarette count at the factory will automatically come directly here, to Customs and Excise, so there will be no more leakages; the detection is quite sophisticated,” Purbaya said. “Including misuse and misrepresentation, that can be detected directly by the new system,” he stressed. Through this system, Purbaya is confident that Customs and Excise revenues will be able to grow rapidly. As of May 2026, receipts stood at approximately Rp 123.8 trillion, an increase of 0.7% compared to the same period last year. This figure is equivalent to only 36.8% of the full-year customs and excise revenue target in the 2026 state budget of Rp 336 trillion.