"I don`t like somebody saying the government does not have the courage to raise the fuel prices. As a matter of fact, we have raised them repeatedly," Hatta Rajasa said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa has denied a media report that the government does not have the guts to raise the prices of subsidized fuels.
"I don`t like somebody saying the government does not have the courage to raise the fuel prices. As a matter of fact, we have raised them repeatedly," he said.
He said the government can raise the fuel prices anytime when the fiscal burden on the state budget is too heavy and disrupts subsidy expenditure as a whole.
But at this moment the government opts to control the use of subsidized fuels to prevent consumption from outstripping 46 million kiloliters this year, he said.
He said the use of information technology to control the use of subsidized fuels will lead to efficient fuel consumption.
Therefore, the government sees no urgency to raise the fuel prices now, the more so because the oil-to-gas conversion program has run well, he said.
"If that so happens, let`s see (the effectiveness of the program). Only if that is not enough we will think of (the option to raise the prices)," he said.
Hatta expressed optimism that the government`s program to control the use of subsidized fuels this year can be implemented properly, unlike in the past couple of years.
"Last year we used neither information technology nor anything else. Also there was no oil-to-gas conversion program," he said. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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