Health Minister: Drug Prices Rise 10-20 Per Cent Due to Rupiah Depreciation

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has stated that domestic drug prices could potentially increase by around 10 to 20 per cent. This increase is triggered by the depreciation of the rupiah against the US dollar, which reached Rp18,201 per dollar on 8 June 2026. According to Minister Budi, the increase remains within reasonable limits. However, he stressed that price surges should not exceed a sensible proportion. “10 to 20 per cent makes sense. But above that, do not take profit from it,” he said following a closed-door meeting with House of Representatives Commission IX in Jakarta on Thursday, 11 June 2026. Budi explained that the percentage of rupiah depreciation against the US dollar does not translate into a constant figure for domestic drug price increases. For instance, if the dollar rises by 30 per cent, drug prices do not automatically increase by 30 per cent as well. This is because many components of drug production costs are rupiah-based, such as workers’ salaries, electricity, and fuel. “So it is impossible for 100 per cent of the change in the dollar exchange rate to be translated into price increases,” he said. He added that this drug price increase will not have an impact on medicines for users of the Social Security Administering Body, or BPJS Kesehatan. This was also emphasized by Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Lucia Rizka Andalucia, who is tasked with calculating drug price changes. Rizka confirmed that the highest increase in drug prices is 20 per cent from the original price, so BPJS is still able to cover the costs. “Some have only increased by 5 per cent, some by 10 per cent. But not more than 20 per cent. It is safe for BPJS as well,” she said. The domino effect of the rupiah’s depreciation on drug prices has been a concern for the Indonesian Empowered Consumer Forum. Its chairman, Tulus Abadi, said that soaring drug and vitamin prices was an inevitability, as 85-90 per cent of pharmaceutical raw materials in Indonesia are imported. Tulus stated that the drug price increase would further decrease the drug consumption ratio in Indonesia, which is already classified as low. “The crash of the rupiah exchange rate will cause the drug consumption ratio of the Indonesian people to decrease further, because drug prices are becoming more expensive,” he said in a written statement on Saturday, 6 June 2026. Another impact of soaring drug prices is the swelling of the BPJS Kesehatan budget. According to Tulus, health facilities will submit larger claims, thereby putting further pressure on the financial condition of BPJS Kesehatan. Tulus also assessed that the currency depreciation could threaten lower-middle class pharmaceutical industries with bankruptcy. If they are unable to purchase pharmaceutical raw materials, production activities would halt. “The threat of going out of business and layoffs becomes unavoidable,” said Tulus.