Among the ministers attending the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Economic affairs Hatta Rajasa, Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono, and State Enterprise Minister Dahlan Iskan.
Also present at the meeting were Defence Forces Commander Admiral Agus Suhartono and National Police Chief General Timur Pradopo.
Hatta said the implementation of the revised 2012 budget had to be discussed thoroughly, because it was made based on the assumed gasoline price hike of Rp1,500.
"The fact is that gasoline price is not raised, creating a mismatch and, therefore, we must regulate and conduct control," he said, before adding that efforts were needed to maintain the budget posture.
Hatta assured that the government would discuss all possibilities to ensure that the budget would not be surpassed.
He said that controlling and restricting the use of subsidized gasoline would be one of the alternatives to be discussed.
Minister of energy and mineral resources Jero Wacik earlier said that, until now, the government was still discussing measures to control the use of subsidized fuels and it had not yet decided on technical matters relating to it.
Wacik said efforts were under way to prevent the subsidized gasoline quota from rising.
He noted that the quota had once exceeded the 40-million-litre mark a year.
Wacik explained that control was needed so that the subsidized gasoline could only be enjoyed by the economically weak people.
So far, he said, rich people also used the subsidized gasoline. "Based on our study, 77 percent of the gasoline has gone to the rich," Wacik added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
