Govt Denies Intervention in Cement Prices
18 January 2015 16:28 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sofyan Djalil dismissed the speculation that the government had intervened in the new price of cement.
The minister ensured that the new price was the initiative of the cement-producers.
"There’s not government’s interference here,” he said on Friday.
According to Sofyan, the government only gave inputs to state-run cement producers concerning market share.
"So far, the price of cement has not been competitive,” he added.
He also said that the government found irregularities in the competition of the price and said that market share of cement manufactured by Indonesia’s state-owned cement producers was only 44 percent and it has not changed for a long time despite the increasing production.
"They are comfortable with the gap," Sofyan said.
Sofyan also said that the decrease in the price was announced after the producers expressed their willingness and targeted two goals, efficiency and more competitive market.
For the record, the government announced new prices of subsidized fuel and cement. The price of cement manufactured by state-owned producers was deflated to Rp3,000 per sack. The new price is effective starting Monday, January 19, 2015.
ANDI RUSLI
