ID :
348335
Tue, 11/18/2014 - 11:34
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Fuel Price Hikes To Lower Public's Trust In Jokowi

Jakarta, Nov 18 (Antara) - The government`s policy to finally increase the prices of subsidized fuels may reduce the public`s trust in President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), according to an observer. "Public`s trust in Jokowi is feared to decline because in less than a month after being inaugurated as president, he has burdened the low-income community with the subsidized fuel price hikes," Karyono Wibowo, an observer at the Indonesian Public Institute, remarked here on Tuesday. Karyono noted that the government should have postponed its decision to hike fuel prices, and instead, should have sought a solution to the budget deficit problem by optimizing the income tax sector, which can contribute hundreds of trillions of rupiah. He said the government could also seal the budget leak that had occurred in the country and optimize the expenditure of state revenues through state-owned enterprises (SOEs). "An audit on the oil and gas sector from upstream to downstream also needs to be done," the study team leader of the Trisakti Study Circle explained. Karyono pointed out that the rising fuel prices will have a huge impact on the social and economic life as energy is a vital commodity in the day-to-day activities of the people. "The world is dependent on energy. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that one, who controls the energy, will control the world," he affirmed. The government, on Monday night, announced fuel price hikes by raising the price of subsidized gasoline to Rp8.5 thousand from Rp6.5 thousand per liter and the price of subsidized diesel oil to Rp7.5 thousand from Rp5.5 thousand per liter. President Jokowi stated that the government required substantial amount of funds to finance the development of infrastructure and improve education and health services. The president noted that raising the prices of subsidized fuels was an option that the government should consider in order to divert subsidies from the consumptive to the productive sectors, including for infrastructure and education.

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