Govt set to provide Rp 10,000 fuel subsidy for each poor family
Subsidy for public transportation has yet to be decided
Saturday, March 25 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the government was set to provide the country's estimated 17 million poor families Rp 10,000 in fuel subsidy per family per month to buy kerosene.
Susilo said that each family was estimated to only need around 12-liter kerosene per month.
The government has just decided to back down from its initial plans to introduce a coupon system, which would allow the poor families to buy kerosene at subsidized price into a direct cash transfer. The government instead plans to provide cash to the poor families in order to boost their purchasing ability to buy kerosene at the new price level.
The government will increase the fuel price by an average 12 percent starting next month.
The government will also subsidize gasoline and automotive diesel for public transportation. The government also intends to provide cash to the public transportation operators.
But Susilo said that the government was still studying how much cash transfer would be allocated for the public transportation sector.
Meanwhile, legislator Priyo Budi Susilo and consumers group advocate of the YLKI Foundation Agus Pambagio urged the government to delay the fuel price increase due to indication that the government was not yet ready to implement the new subsidy system.
Agus even urged the government to drop at all the planned fuel price increase. (*)