JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - The Finance Ministry on Thursday (March 2) signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU), aiming at managing volatile food inflation through eliminating cartel business practices.
Over the past years, the volatile food components have become main contributors of inflation rate in Indonesia. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that annual volatile food inflation in February 2017 has reached 4.46 percent, higher than annual general inflation of 3.83 percent.
“We have to safeguard people’s purchasing power by controlling inflation, especially staple food prices. Some of food prices are not determined by normal market mechanism, but by unfair competition,” Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Thursday (Mar 2).
Sri Mulyani highlighted that KPPU can use the data of the Directorate General of Taxation as well as the Customs and Excise Directorate General to identify big staple food distributors through tax identification number (NPWP) and importer identification number (API).
She said that some of meat importers are not obedient taxpayers yet. “The import of meat increased significantly last year, but they paid lower tax than previous year,” she added.
Meanwhile, Chairman of KPPU Syarkawi Rauf stated, the MoU consists of sharing data and information between two institutions. More specifically, they will observe some strategic staple food such as meat and sugar. The MoU will be valid for 5 years. (RF)