Seriously! The Government Admits That Pertalite Cs Will Run Out Before The Year-end Target

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) projects that the allocation of subsidized fuel oil (BBM) and compensation will run out before reaching the target at the end of the year. This was revealed by the Director General of Budget Isa Rachmatawarta to the media crew yesterday.

In Isa's analysis based on budgeting factors, this is strongly influenced by the average reference price of Indonesian crude oil or the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP), which was before US$63 per barrel in the 2022 State Budget to be in the range of US$100 in the amendment to Presidential Decree 98/2022.

In addition, the recent weakening of the rupiah exchange rate has also led to a stronger budget burden.

Moreover, there was a trend of increasing consumption of subsidized fuel after the government adjusted the price of non-subsidized fuel in accordance with market mechanisms.

"We will continue to watch if it doesn't go up again (ICP and the exchange rate) will certainly help neutralize consumption which tends to rise above expected," said Isa in a press conference quoted Friday, August 12.

For information, this year the quota for pertalite type fuel is 23 million kilo liters. From that amount, the usage record until July 2022 has reached 16.8 million kilo liters. Meanwhile, 9.9 million kilo liters of diesel have been distributed from the quota of 14.9 million kilo liters.

As for the budgeting side, there was a surge in the value of subsidies with additional funds of IDR 75 trillion from the previous IDR 134 trillion. Then for compensation, it shot from Rp. 18.5 trillion to Rp. 275 trillion.

"Of course, if necessary, we will continue to support Pertamina in controlling this consumption by implementing timely policies," concluded Isa.