Polemic Of Fuel Scarcity At Private Gas Stations Disrupts Investment Climate

Private Fuel (Photo: Unsplash)

The issue of scarcity of fuel oil (BBM) that occurred in a number of private-owned Public Fuel Filling Stations (SPBU) is considered to be able to disrupt the investment climate in the country.

Deputy for Investment Promotion at the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM, Nurul Ichwan, said that negative sentiment from the public was considered to have influenced investor perceptions, although the impact was estimated to be only temporary.

In my opinion, this is in a short term or long term. Because usually, the public responds to information that is sometimes circulating. Whether it's clear or unclear, sometimes the public responds to it, including by the market too," said Nurul when met in the South Jakarta area, Tuesday, October 7.

Therefore, Nurul said that the certainty from the government, State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) in the energy sector, and the private sector is a determining factor to keep investor perceptions positive.

Currently, continued Nurul, investors are also still in a position to wait for the final results of the issue of fuel scarcity at private gas stations, especially to assess the impact on long-term investment in the energy sector and its derivative industries.

"But if later this has gone through a clear phase, there is a check and balance, both from the government, BUMN, as well as from the private sector, usually it will start to appear from there," he said.

"This means whether this is in long-term investment, especially in direct investment or not, I'm sure investors are waiting for the results from this," he continued.

According to Nurul, the reaction of investors, especially in the capital market, to the issue of fuel is natural because the stock market is very sensitive to short-term information.

"But if asked about the effect it has on short-term investments, for example on the stock exchange, there may be an effect. Because usually on the exchange, the response is to the short-term market," he said.