Alluding To The Fatness Of The Subsidy Budget In The State Budget When Meeting With Leaders Of State High Institutions, Jokowi: Other Countries Fuel Prices Rise 2 Times

President Jokowi met with leaders of high state institutions at the State Palace, Jakarta, Friday, August 12. (ANTARA/Indra Arief)

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met with leaders of high state institutions at the State Palace, Jakarta, Friday, August 12.

President Jokowi said the 2.5-hour meeting discussed various issues, including national and global economic conditions.

"Especially we talk about the global crisis, related to the food crisis, energy crisis, and also the financial crisis, and we share, share about matters related to our domestic," said the head of state after the meeting.

Jokowi admitted that he had not held a meeting with the leaders of high state institutions.

In addition to discussing global and domestic economic issues, the President and leaders of high state institutions also talked about the commemoration of the 77th Indonesian Independence Day on August 17, 2022.

"This is on August 17, talk and talk about these things," Jokowi said, according to Antara.

The economic issues discussed, said Jokowi, included the subsidy budget in the APBN which was considered too large because it had already reached Rp502 trillion.

"But can we maintain the figure of Rp502 trillion? If we can, Alhamdulillah, it means that the people are not burdened, but what if the state budget is not strong enough? In other countries, the price of fuel is already Rp. 17 thousand, Rp. 18 thousand, everything has doubled. it's like that," he said.

Jokowi explained that the government must spend subsidies of up to Rp502 trillion to contain fuel prices, especially subsidized fuels, so as not to burden people's purchasing power.

"Our subsidy figure is indeed too large, look for a country whose subsidy is up to Rp502 trillion, because we have to hold the price of pertalite, gas, electricity, including Pertamax, very big," he said.

Also present at the meeting were DPR Speaker Puan Maharani, MPR Chair Bambang Soesatyo, DPD Chair La Nyalla Mattalitti, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Anwar Usman, Head of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) Isma Yatun, Supreme Court Chief M Syarifuddin, and Judicial Commission Chair Mukti Fajar Nur. Gods.