JAKARTA - The government’s plan to limit subsidized fuel oil consumption is the same as raising prices, a legislator said. Deputy chairman of the DPR’s Commission VII on energy affairs Effendi Simbolon made the remarks in a discussion on fuel oil consumption limitation here on Saturday.
"Instead of reducing subsidized fuel oil consumption it would be better for the government to raise its price by Rp300 per litter until it reaches its economic viability level," he said.
He said that the government’s plan to limit the consumption of subsidized oil was still in the form of an informal proposal because the government had yet to submit its formal proposal.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Faction (FPDIP), he said, did not agree with the government’s plan to limit the fuel oil consumption. He said that the plan was just the same as diverting the people’s consumption of premium gasoline to Pertamax.
"If the limitation policy is imposed the people would have no choice (other than switching to Pertamax," he said.
He said that if the government raised the price of premium gasoline by Rp300 per liter, consumers would still have alternatives to using other types of fuel oils. Fuel oil subsidy in the state budget in 2010 amounts to Rp88 trillion.
source : kompas.com
source : kompas.com
