Jakarta, June 13 -- The Indonesian Ministry of Health has assured the public that any increase in medicine prices due to rupiah volatility and higher oil prices will remain within reasonable limits.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin underscored that the prices of medicines for the National Health Insurance (JKN) program of state insurer BPJS Kesehatan are guaranteed to remain stable and will not increase.

"We have reviewed which medicine price increases make sense and which do not. Nevertheless, for BPJS medicines, we have managed to keep prices steady," he said in a statement received in Jakarta on Saturday.

He explained that a stronger US dollar does not automatically trigger an equivalent percentage increase in medicine prices. Th...