"It will be difficult to achieve a subsidized fuel quota of 40 million kiloliters if we do not control it (the use of subsidized fuels)," Director General of Oil and Gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Evita Legowo said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will go ahead with its program to control the use of subsidized fuels this year, an official said.

The government proposed that the quota of subsidized fuels in the revised 2012 state budget remained at 40 million kiloliters, Director General of Oil and Gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Evita Legowo, said at a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Commission VII here on Monday.

"It will be difficult to achieve a subsidized fuel quota of 40 million kiloliters if we do not control it (the use of subsidized fuels)," she said.

She noted that the program was aimed at ensuring justice in the use of subsidized fuels so that subsidized fuels would only be sold to those entitled to them.

The program would serve as a complement to the government`s plan to raise the price of subsidized fuels by Rp1,500 a liter as of April 1, she said.

"We will also reduce the use of subsidized fuels in elite regions and on toll roads," she said.

In addition, the government would also launch a no-subsidized fuel day at a certain place and time, and encourage the use of gas fuels, she said.

Data from state oil and gas company Pertamina shows that fuel consumption in January and February this year grew by 12 percent from the same months in 2011.

The quantity of fuel oils distributed in the first two months of 2012 reached 7.02 million kiloliters, equivalent to 18.79 percent of the quota set in the 2012 state budget.

The figure is 755,000 kiloliters or 12 percent higher than the same period last year when it stood at 6.26 million kiloliters.

Subsidized premium gasoline consumption alone rose by 14 percent to 4.35 million kiloliters, while subsidized diesel consumption increased by 12 percent to 2.4 million kiloliters.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012