If the global situation improves, then the price of domestic fuel oil will fall, he added.
In the meantime, he urged people to be frugal in their energy consumption to control fuel oil volume and also reduce air pollution.
"If you used to consume three liters of fuel, try to only consume two liters. This is also to reduce CO2 air pollution," he said.
Speaking about the plan to restrict subsidized fuel oil purchases, Tasrif informed that it is still being discussed and delved into by the government.
The plan is being discussed since there are several options. Moreover, since there are many considerations, the government will need to do some research on this, he explained.
The government has decided to raise fuel oil prices because the Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) at the global level has been rising along with people's consumption, he said.
At first, the government allocated Rp502.4 trillion to subsidize fuel oil prices based on the assumption that the consumption of diesel would be 15 million kiloliters and Pertalite 23 million kiloliters until the end of the year.
However, people's consumption increased amid the rising ICP, with the estimated volume of diesel consumption until the end of the year pegged at 17 million kiloliters and Pertalite 29 million kiloliters.
Therefore, the government raised the fuel oil price considering that the state budget would be under heavy pressure if the energy subsidy allocation is increased from Rp502.4 trillion to almost Rp700 trillion.
Despite this, the government has continued to support the people's purchasing power by reallocating Rp24.17 trillion from the budget that was supposed to be used for energy subsidies for providing social aid.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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