"We understand the difficulties that people are facing. If possible, we will postpone the hike until early next year," he said before attending a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VII at the parliament building here on Thursday.
He said the plan to postpone the base electricity tariff hike was aimed at responding to recent developments in connection with the government`s plan to raise fuel prices as of April 1.
"Only after the public accepts the fuel price hike can the government think of raising the electricity tariff," he noted.
Since the base electricity tariff would not be raised electricity subsidy was expected to increase by Rp4.6 trillion, he added.
The government had originally planned to raise base electricity tariff by 10 percent once every quarter, beginning in May 2012.
Although the base electricity tariff would be postponed until early next year, the increase would reach 10 percent, Jero said.
The period of increase which was originally planned once every quarter was also likely to change, he added.
(R027)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
