Govt has no plan to raise prices of subsidized fuels

The government has no plan to raise prices of subsidized fuels despite an increase in prices of crude oil in the international market, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said.

Purnomo said in Jakarta on Friday that prices of the subsidized fuels including Premium gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene for households would be kept at the current levels despite the higher crude oil prices.

?We have enough reserve funds to cope with the higher crude prices. The funds were accumulated when prices of crude oil prices dropped early this year,? he said. He, however, was not sure if the prices of the subsidized fuels could be maintained until the end of this year. ?The government will continue study the price trend,? he added.

The last price increase was made in May, last year. At that time, the government raised the prices of subsidized Premium fuel to Rp 6,000 per liter from Rp 4,500, while the price of the subsidized diesel fuel was increased to Rp 5,500 per liter from Rp 4,300. The price of the heavily subsidized kerosene for households was raised to Rp 2,500 per liter from Rp 2,000 per liter.

The price of crude oil which dropped to below US$50 per barrel has showed a persistent increase during the last two months. This week, the price of the crude oil reached $73 per barrel. (*)