Book prices rise by 10 percent

Book prices rise by 10 percent

JAKARTA (JP): The price of books in city bookstores has risen
by an average of 10 percent, mainly due to the scarcity of paper
stock.

"The 10 percent increase does not only affect new school books
and books on general sciences, but also used books," said Ronald
Edward, a book trader at Senen market in Central Jakarta,
yesterday.

The price increase had caused Ronald's sales to drop 50
percent from about 100 books per day, Antara reported.

Boedi Yogipranata, manager of Gramedia Bookstore in Matraman,
East Jakarta, said the price increase was caused mainly by the
current monetary crisis.

"Our turnover has also dropped 10 percent to 15 percent
because of people's weak purchasing power," he said.

Before the crisis, Boedi said his store managed to sell an
average of 3,000 books per day, mainly consisting of comic books
and children's books.

He said the crisis had also caused the price of imported books
to soar by between 20 percent and 30 percent. (hhr)