Health Ministry Confirms No Subsidy of PCR Test Price
Translator
Editor
26 October 2021 19:27 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin asserted that the government would not grant subsidies to lower the price of polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests to detect COVID-19.
“The government does not plan to provide such subsidies because we see that the price, especially if it is lowered, is already quite cheap,” said Budi on Tuesday, October 26.
According to him, the price ceiling of the COVID-19 test in Indonesia, which was originally set at Rp900,000, was already 25 percent lower than the price of the same test at airports in other countries.
“So if, for example, it is lowered to Rp300,000, it might be the cheapest compared to the price of PCR test at other airports,” he added.
Minister Budi mentioned that besides China, India is still the country providing the cheapest PCR test price in the world. “India sets a very cheap price at Rp160,000 because it produces [its test equipment] domestically, and its economy develops for it has many populations,” he said.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo previously demanded a lower price ceiling of the PCR test to Rp300,000. Budi deemed the value will be the cheapest among the test price at airports worldwide.
Read: Organda Slams Govt's Plan to Expand Mandatory PCR Test for Travelers
ANTARA
