Retail in Asia

In Markets

Indonesia’s tariff hike a boon for consumer goods sector, but blow for retailers

The share price of Indonesian consumer goods companies rose on Thursday after the Finance Ministry announced it would raise import tariffs on a range of consumer goods, such as clothing, snacks and alcoholic beverages.

Under a recently issued ministerial regulation, the import duty on goods such as food, beverages, electronics, clothes, condoms and vehicles has been increased by between 10 and 150 percent with the intention of stimulating growth in the local consumer goods industry.

According to Adhi Lukman, chairman at the Indonesian Food and Beverage Association, the import duty hike will bolster growth in the sector over the remainder of the year and boost competitiveness among food and beverage companies in Indonesia. However, the import duty increase could mean bad news for companies that still import some of their products like fashion and lifestyle retailer Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP).

(Source: Jakarta Globe )