Indonesia to raise copper export taxes to 60 pct in H2 2016

JAKARTA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Indonesia will introduce a progressive export tax for copper concentrate that will rise to a maximum 60 percent of a shipment's value by the second half of 2016, in bid to lift domestic refining capacity, the finance minister said on Monday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed last-minute regulations on Saturday to ease a mineral export ban for certain minerals, allowing exports of copper concentrate to continue.

"The aim of the export tax is not revenue, but more on securing the domestic market," said Finance Minister Chatib Basri. "The policy will hit us in the short term, but we will post a trade surplus in 2016-2017."

(Reporting by Rieka Rahadiana; Editing by Ed Davies)

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Keywords: INDONESIA MINERALS/TAX