The Government Has Revealed That There Has Been No Discussion On The Increase In Fuel Prices So Far

Director General of Budget at the Ministry of Finance Isa Rachmatarwata. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) emphasized that until now there has been no discussion with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) regarding the possibility of increasing subsidized fuel oil (BBM) prices, even though the price of oil and rupiah exchange rates is soaring.

"Until now there has been no discussion regarding the possibility of increasing fuel prices with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources," said Director General of Budget of the Ministry of Finance Isa Rachmatarwata at the Press Conference of our State Budget, Thursday, June 27.

Isa said, there are several consideration factors that affect the determination of subsidized fuel prices such as crude price (ICP) or Rupiah exchange rates. However, the price of the ICP was still in accordance with government projections.

"So far there has been a significant increase, but ICP, the average crude oil price is still in accordance with our predictions. So we haven't been under too much pressure from the ICP side, but from the exchange rate we are starting to apply pressure for this fuel subsidy," he said.

Isa explained that the consumption of subsidized fuel is still under control in the country so that energy subsidies are still in a safe condition.

This is what makes the cost burden of subsidies still controlable in accordance with the budget ceiling in the 2024 State Budget of around Rp. 300 trillion

"Overall, we see that we can still monitor subsidies in the range that we have prepared in our APBN. In addition, the subsidies in the APBN have been agreed upon by the DPR and the government to be flexible in adjusting to their needs," he said.

Based on data from the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), the realization of energy subsidy spending until May 2024 reached Rp56.9 trillion.

The realization of the energy subsidy until May 2024 consists of fuel oil (BBM) reaching 5.57 million kiloliters, or a decrease of 1 percent when compared to the same period last year of 5.63 million kilo liters.

Then, for 3 kg LPG subsidy expenditure, the realization reached 2.7 million metric tons or grew 1.9 percent from the same period last year of 2.6 million metric tons. Meanwhile, electricity subsidies reached 40.4 million subscribers, an increase of 3.1 percent from the same period last year of 39.2 million subscribers.