JAKARTA, July 7 (Reuters) - Indonesia is discussing the possibility of cutting the palm oil export levy to help stimulate more overseas shipments, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Thursday.
The Southeast Asian country has unrolled a string of policies aimed at reviving exports after a three-week ban on shipments that ended in late May swelled domestic inventories of the edible oil.
To jump start exports, the government needed to make an extra effort to quickly cut domestic stocks and prop up palm fruit prices for farmers that have slumped in the wake of the export ban, the minister said.
"For shipments to flow we may have to lower the export levy to provide incentives for businesses to export," Luhut said, adding he had raised the plan with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
He did not share further details.
Indonesia has previously cut the export levy to a maximum $200 per tonne for July from $375 previously, but is due to increase the level to $240 in August.
Luhut said he expected shipments to run more smoothly in the next two weeks. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe Writing by Fransiska Nangoy Editing by Ed Davies)
