Minister Of Finance Purbaya Affirms Commitment To Illegal Cigarette Basmi To Protect Local Industry

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadive (Photo: Doc. Aris Nurjani/VOI)

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadive emphasized his commitment to eradicating the circulation of illegal cigarettes in Indonesia, along with the termination of employment (PHK) for employees in the sector.

According to Purbaya, this step is part of the government's efforts to protect legal industries that contribute to state revenues, especially through excise payments.

"The fake (rozens) are not normal, yes, we will start chasing fake ones one by one, let the normal ones be, just fake ones, because of this, it's not fair, we attract hundreds of trillions of taxes from cigarettes, while they are not protected by the market, they are not protected," he told the media crew, in a media briefing, Friday, September 19.

He said that our cigarette industry was actually 'killed' by the circulation of illegal cigarettes from abroad such as from China, even though the domestic industry has absorbed a lot of labor, so it is better for us to support local industries than to let them die.

"I have ordered him to start monitoring anyone who sells and buys online for fake goods, so be careful of them," he explained.

Purbaya explained that the contribution of cigarette excise to state revenue reached around 57 percent.

In addition, he stressed that excise policy is not solely aimed at increasing state revenue, but must also contain aspects of controlling cigarette consumption, in line with the goals of public health policies.

However, he reminded that control policies such as excise increases must be accompanied by economic impact calculations, as well as the potential for increasing unemployment due to the shrinking production capacity of the cigarette industry.

"If that's the case, we'll see as long as we can't have a program that can absorb labor workers who are unemployed, the industry shouldn't be killed. This only causes (many) people who are difficult," he said.

"But it must be limited that cigarettes should at least people understand what the risk of smoking is but they can't use policies to kill the cigarette industry, then the workforce is biased without a policy of assistance from the government, it's an irresponsible policy, why do I think so, so we will see cigarettes later," he added.

Meanwhile, Purbaya plans to visit several cigarette factories, the majority of which are in East Java, to directly ascertain whether the industry has actually experienced a decline in production due to government policies.

"I'm going to East Java to talk to the industry, I'll see what kind of business it goes down or not? If for example it doesn't go down but (still) I protect their market in the sense that the fake white online-online is fake, I forbid it there," he said.