Revealed: This is the Real Purpose of Purbaya's Coal Export Duty

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has explained the purpose of imposing an export duty on coal. He stated that it is a step to prevent fraud in the export practices of Indonesia’s flagship commodity.

Purbaya said that when coal is subject to an export duty, the goods can be inspected by customs.

“So I want to tackle under-invoicing. And illegal exports. Previously, we couldn’t intervene. The goods had already departed. Then they were given a notification letter. How could that happen? Because it wasn’t classified as export-controlled goods,” Purbaya told reporters at the Juanda I Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/4/2026).

Purbaya said he wants the Ministry of Finance to be involved in the export process to ensure that state revenues from commodity exports are optimised.

“So they said we can’t get involved. So I want to make sure we can.”

On the other hand, Purbaya said he is calculating the state revenue from the coal export duty. “This is being calculated,” Purbaya added.

Purbaya reiterated that the main purpose of the export duty is to allow the Ministry of Finance to participate in the export process, primarily to avoid revenue leakages through under-invoicing practices.

“But the important thing is that I can get in there. My customs officers can inspect before the goods are shipped. So under-invoicing can’t happen anymore. Or smuggling, and all sorts of things,” he said.