"There is no need for them to line up for hours just for a few liters. The benefit will not be much," he said here on Friday.
He also asked the people not to worry about supply as it will be sufficient.
"Just relax. We have enough stocks across Indonesia, he stated.
He noted that based on the reports he received, state-owned oil company Pertamina has already checked all supply and distribution centers in anticipation of a fuel price hike.
He said the government has not yet decided when to raise the price or how much to raise.
Finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, however, has said that the government plans to increase fuel prices before January 1, 2015.
Sudirman said that all quarters have understood that a fuel price hike is no longer avoidable. "Can we still delay it? I think we cannot," he added.
According to him, in the past five years, the budget for oil subsidy, especially fuel oils, had reached Rp1,300 trillion.
The spending on welfare programs, meanwhile, had been recorded at Rp600 trillion while infrastructure development cost was Rp500 trillion. Their total expenditure comes to only around Rp1,100 trillion.
"Imagine! Because a product subsidy was not rightly targeted, the people, especially the poor, had to suffer," he noted.
He remarked Rp1,000 trillion could be utilized to develop infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, irrigation facilities, toll roads, ports, refineries and gas pipe networks.
He pointed out the fuel price hike would also reduce irregularities as price disparity will be narrowed.
"Our next step is to explore how to enhance self-sufficiency in energy including developing new energy sources," he added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
