High Commodity Prices: Profits For The Country, Threats For The People

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - The government through the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani does not deny that the increase in the price of important commodities has a positive impact on state revenues. However, this condition is considered to provide its own vulnerability for the domestic market.

The reason is, soaring prices will certainly raise the selling value of similar goods in the country. For example, the current increase in cooking oil prices is influenced by the soaring value of CPO.

As the world's largest palm oil producer, Indonesia has benefited from soaring revenues from foreign trade.

“The extraordinary increase in commodity prices has had an impact, on the one hand, APBN revenues will increase, such as from oil, gas, coal, nickel, CPO. All of these provide added power in terms of state revenues," he said via a virtual channel after meeting the President at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday, April 5.

However, continued the Minister of Finance, the burden on the community also increased because they had to follow the price level that was adjusted to the market.

"On the other hand, the public will also feel the impact of the rising global inflation," he said.

For this reason, the government is now trying to transmit the profits from the sale of commodities in order to maintain the purchasing power of the common people.

“It is necessary to decide on measures to maintain this challenge. Previously, the threat to the community was a pandemic, now the challenges and threats are also from the increase in the price of these goods," he explained.

Citing a report from the Ministry of Finance, it is known that until February 2022 tax revenues reached Rp. 199.4 trillion, growing 36 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

In detail, non-oil and gas PPh revenues reached Rp110 trillion, VAT and PPnBM reached Rp74.2 trillion, PBB and other taxes Rp1.5 trillion, and oil and gas PPh Rp13.5 trillion.

Meanwhile, to protect the people from the threat of price spikes, the government has prepared a public protection fund of Rp. 154.76 trillion which is included in the 2022 National Economic Recovery (PEN) scheme.

Through this budget, various social assistances are provided with a focus on maintaining the purchasing power of the poor and tackling extreme poverty.