"We all know that the world crude prices are going down," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) remarked while opening the meeting at his office.
In view of that, he said the discussion will be held with regard to the posture of oil subsidy spending in the national budget.
He pointed out that budget allocation for 2015 will be presented by Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro in the meeting.
However, the president said he had also requested Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil to share his viewpoint on the issue.
President Joko Widodo is also scheduled to hold a plenary cabinet meeting later that day to discuss the direction of the government policy in the formulation of the 2015 revised budget.
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro had previously confirmed that the government will impose a fixed subsidy in 2015, so that the global oil price fluctuations would not affect the posture of oil subsidy spending in the budget.
"It would be effective in January 2015, which is the start of the new fiscal year," he noted at a press conference here on Thursday.
He pointed out that the oil subsidy scheme will be included in the revised 2015 draft budget that will be submitted to the House of Representatives in January.
He remarked that the amount of the subsidy could not yet be confirmed as the process of further consultation with the president is still pending.
"We have prepared several options and one of them will not only take into account the oil price but also the exchange rate (of the rupiah against the US dollar)," he emphasized.
Bambang confirmed that he will change the assumption of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar in the revised 2015 draft budget, but it will be decided only after the average rate in 2014 is determined later at the end of the year.
(Reporting by Muhammad Razi Rahman/Uu.H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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