Precious commodity: Motorcyclists queueing to buy subsidised fuel at a petrol station in Bekasi. — Reuters
THE country has raised subsidised fuel prices by about 30%, top officials said, as the government moves to rein in ballooning subsidies despite a risk of mass protests.
The price of subsidised gasoline was raised to 10,000 rupiah (RM3) a litre from 7,650 rupiah (RM2.30), while that of subsidised diesel rose to 6,800 rupiah (RM2) a litre from 5,150 (RM1.55) rupiah, energy minister Arifin Tasrif said.
“I actually wanted domestic fuel prices to remain affordable by providing subsidies, but the budget for subsidies has tripled and will continue to increase,” President Joko Widodo said yesterday.
“Now the government has to make a decision in a difficult situation. This is our last option.”
Indonesia had already jacked up its 2022 energy subsidies to 502 trillion rupiah (RM150bil), three times the original budget, pushed by rising global prices of oil and a depreciating rupiah currency.
If prices were not raised, the budget would have ballooned further to 698 trillion rupiah (RM209bil), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.
She estimated that total energy subsidies would range between 591 trillion rupiah (RM177bil) and 649 trillion rupiah (RM195bil) for this year following the price hike, assuming the average crude price stays in a range of US$85 (RM) to US$100 (RM) a barrel for the remainder of 2022. — Reuters
