Avoid Inflation, Commission XI Asks For Excise On Sweetened Drinks Not Valid In All Products

Illustration of sweetened drinks (Photo: dock. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission XI of the House of Representatives, Dolfie Othniel Frederic Palit, encourages the government to impose a policy of carefully and fairly excise packaged sugary drinks (MBDK). This was conveyed by Dolfie in response to the government's discourse in filing the latest levies in the near future.

"We also don't want to be affected by the traders in the small stalls," he told VOI when met at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta on Wednesday, August 16.

Dolfie explained that the government must submit a draft initiative comprehensively to the DPR. The reason is, until now Commission XI of the DPR, as a partner of the government in the financial sector, has not received any related proposals.

"It has not been consulted with us, because earlier, the government had to consult with the DPR first," he said.

The politician from the PDIP faction also said that the excise withdrawal in question is quite important considering its limiting essence.

"We'll see, now what drinks are at minimarket outlets that don't use sugar. Almost everyone uses sugar," he said.

Furthermore, Dolfie also highlighted the issue of determining criteria and the scale of sweetened drinks that will be subject to excise duty. This step is considered important in keeping Indonesia's macroeconomics stable.

"We hope that there will be a segmentation of what products are subject to this excise, don't all of them get excise. Because later the price will increase, it can even (encourage) inflation," he said.

In the previous VOI report, the Director General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Askolani said the implementation of the MBDK excise in 2024 would be carried out.

"The MBDK carcass will not use a ribbon scheme," he said at a press conference on our State Budget last week.

Sri Mulyani's subordinate explained that the government is still working on implementing procedures in the field. On that basis, Askolani has not been able to detail the value of the levies that will be withdrawn through this latest fiscal policy.

"Currently it is still being prepared. So regarding the scheme, the tariff has not been set. Later the government will discuss it with the council (DPR). Later the government will also prepare Government Regulations (if an agreement has been reached)," he said.