REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The prevalence of smoking in Indonesia is forecast to increase further, with an increase of only 10.04 percent in the tobacco excise tax in 2018, Chairman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YKLI) stated.

"Poor families and juveniles can still afford to buy cigarettes. An increase of 10.04 percent (in the excise tax) will only raise the price by Rp30 to Rp50 per cigarette," Tulus Abadi said here, Thursday.

According to Abadi, a survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that poor families had spent more money on cigarettes than on education and healthy food.

Cigarettes ranked second after rice on the list of items bought by most poor families.