Govt Allocates Rp35tn for Farming Liabilities
15 September 2014 22:48 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Agriculture Minister Suswono said his ministry has allocated a budget of up to Rp35 trillion to pay off agriculture liabilities, including fertilizer subsidy arrears.
Suswono hopes the budget allocation would cover all carry-overs; hence, the government would be left with no more debts. "As soon as it is disbursed, the government will pay for all of the liabilities," he told Tempo in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, yesterday.
The government has a fertilizer subsidy arrears to PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) amounting to Rp16.7 trillion, a debt that was accumulated from 2010 to 2013. As a result, Pupuk Indonesia was forced to bear interest rates, and had was unable to obtain fresh funds for new investment.
Meanwhile, Eko Sunarko, president director of another fertilizer company PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM), said the government has an outstanding debt of fertilizer subsidy of Rp1.4 trillion. The figure stood for a three-year fertilizer subsidy ration. "We have billed the government, but no payment has been made," he said in Lhokseumawe.
JAYADI SUPRIADIN