Important Listen! Pertalite Cs Fuel Prices Will Increase To Be Replaced With Social Assistance

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) is known to have prepared a new social assistance (bansos) scheme following the national economic situation which is still under pressure.

One of the most recent is related to the consumption of subsidized fuel oil (BBM) which has approached the level of over limit.

In fact, the government has disbursed a large amount of the budget from the normal value of subsidies in the range of Rp. 100 trillion, now it has swelled to Rp. 502 trillion.

Director General of Budget Isa Rachmatawarta explained that the high demand for subsidized fuel could not be separated from the increased mobility of the people.

In addition, the increase in the price of non-subsidized fuel that follows the market mechanism has encouraged people to switch to cheaper fuels.

Isa also gave a signal that the government is still referring to the predetermined amount of subsidized fuel and has no plans to increase the quota.

As a result, the option to raise the price tag of subsidized fuel becomes the most relevant option when the budget continues to swell.

Instead, Sri Mulyani's subordinate explained that the government would provide social assistance on a targeted basis as a cushion to maintain people's purchasing power.

This bold step by the government cannot be separated from the 'green light' of the DPR which has agreed to increase the allocation of social assistance funds by Rp. 18.6 trillion some time ago as part of the distribution of the increase in state revenues.

"Yes, that is one of the possibilities for using the additional Rp18.6 trillion in social assistance budget (when the subsidized fuel price adjustment is made)," said Isa when contacted by VOI on Friday, August 12.

Isa himself ensured that the government would look for the most appropriate momentum to execute the distribution of social assistance which is closely related to the fuel price policy.

"We will observe when is the right time to provide this social assistance because the budget is already available. Hopefully it will be sufficient to respond to price increases and so on that could occur until the end of this year," he said.

For information, Pertamina launched that the subsidized diesel quota for 2022 is 14.9 million kilo liters.

Meanwhile, the amount that has been distributed until the end of July has reached 9.9 million kilo liters.

A similar condition also occurs in pertalite type fuel which has absorbed 16.8 million kilo liters of the quota of 23 million kilo liters.