JAKARTA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) --- Revenues from cigarette tax in Indonesia from January to July increased as the government aims to protect health of the public.
The revenues from the cigarette tax reached 55.82 trillion rupiah (4.187 billion U.S. dollars) for the January to July period of this year compared with 51.23 trillion rupiah (3.843 billion U.S. dollars) in the same period of last year, data from customs office revealed on Wednesday.
The government has raised cigarette tax for this year to an average of 10.54 percent in an effort to reduce consumption of the product and increase revenue.
The government expects to secure 147.59 trillion rupiah (10.071 billion U.S. dollars) revenues from cigarette tax by the year-end.
Revenues from cigarette tax contribute 10-12 percent to the country's development budget last year, compared with 11.68 percent in 2015, according to data from the Finance Ministry.
Indonesia is among the world's fastest-growing market for tobacco products, partly due to cheap prices of cigarettes in the country with a population of over 250 million. Two-thirds of Indonesian men are smokers.
