Hidayat: New President Must Increase Fuel Prices
10 July 2014 10:56 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Industry Minister Mohamad Soleman Hidayat said the next president must gradually increase fuel prices to curb the fuel subsidy presently burdening the state budget.
“The president must immediately increase fuel prices so that the state budget can be used for any other programs in the future, because subsidy will make it hard for these programs to be executed,” said Hidayat.
According to Hidayat, the fuel subsidy reduction program by the next elected government must encompass new breakthroughs in the channeling of the subsidy.
In a recent discussion with Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, Hidayat proposed that the subsidy distribution must be based on the people entitled to subsidized fuel as opposed to the fuel products.
To do so, he went on, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) must set the criteria of people who deserve subsidized fuel. “The BPS must be able to provide accurate data,” he said.
However, Hidayat admitted he had yet to find the most effective means to distribute fuel subsidy. “That must be detailed more. But the point is, subsidy distribution must be based on the people as opposed to the products.
AMIR TEJO