High Cigarettes Price Rp 50.000 per pack, Cigarette Companies and Objectives

The issue of sudden mark up of cigarette price becomes the main core of trending issue. The government seems to increase the price of cigarettes from around Rp 20.000 per pack to Rp 50.000 per pack. Many experts see this is still logical and acceptable since the other countries like singapore, USA even have the higher prices than Rp 50.000 per pack. 

The director of beverage and tobacco industry, wilhem petrus has a contradictory opinion regarding the issue. He said that precisely the cigarette price in indonesia is higher than other countries since indonesia has the low income per capita. Compared to Japan for instance, though the price is higher than Rp 50.000 but they have the high income per capita. Meanwhile, in indonesia, such price is too high. It will affect the daily budget of people since almost 80% of daily expenditure is for cigarette.

Discourse of amount of Rp 50.000 per pack of cigarettes comes from the results of the calculations Hasbullah Thabrany research professor, Head of the Center for Health Economics and Policy School of Public Health, University of Indonesia. In a study based on the results of a survey released in July 2016 it was mentioned the price of cigarettes is ideal for preventing students and poor people smoke is Rp 50 thousand per pack.

The data collection was conducted from December 2015 through January 2016, with the number of respondents 1,000 people. As a result, 82 percent of respondents agreed price of cigarettes increased. In fact, 72 percent of respondents agreed price of cigarettes increased to above USD 50 thousand, to prevent students smoke.

Earlier, Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Central Java Margo Yuwono mention the presence of cigarette filter was judged to be the cause of one of poverty in Central Java after rice. The findings were based on a survey of Central Java BPS poverty profile in the period September 2015 to March 2016.

We come on common perception that cigarettes  are not good for health and future of persons even if the same question addressed to the active smokers. Though the research basically is solely the further study of general truth about negativity of cigarettes but we can't deny the fact that it's not simply like flipping the hand to eradicate the smoking habit of indonesians looking to the fact that almost majority of population is smoker not to mention the high school students. 

But the discretion of government following the research has to be tampered by other consideration like the fate of companies like jarum, sampoerna inc, gudang garam etc. Those are the big companies which contribute the big revenue for the state. If these inc are to be terminated slowly through the increase of cigarette prices, the possibility of thousands jobless should be the consideration government. Precisely the top richest of the country are the owner of jarum, rudy and budi hartono. 

The ultimate question of cigarettes price is that who gain benefit from it? the mostly reasonable answer is the government though the tobacco tax. This might be alternative of government to gain revenue mending the deficit or may be the mental revolution platform of jokowi through sudden shocking policy is to terminate the smoking habit.