House OKs fuel price increases<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As people started panic buying and sporadic protests broke out in
\nsome areas of the country, lawmakers had yet to make up their
\nminds on whether they would approve the government's second and
\nfinal revision of the 2005 state budget as of 10:30 p.m. on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Instead, the 10 factions of the House of Representatives only
\nmanaged to deliver their respective views on the proposal during
\na plenary session that started at 5 p.m. The legislators had the
\ndraft budget revision as the fourth item on their order of
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
In the much-awaited session, the majority of lawmakers, led by
\nthe Golkar Party faction, conditionally accepted the draft budget
\nrevision, which envisaged fuel subsidy spending amounting to Rp 89.2
\ntrillion (US$8.68 billion) and a deficit of Rp 25.1 trillion, or
\n0.9 percent of GDP.<\/p>\n
Golkar spokesman Achmad Hafiz Zawawi read out his faction's
\nview that although increased fuel prices would be burdensome for
\nthe public, the government's move should be seen as an \"initial
\nstep toward improving the country's economy\".<\/p>\n
The faction urged the government to make sure that its direct
\nassistance scheme -- under which 15.6 million low-income
\nhouseholds will be eligible to receive Rp 300,000 in cash every
\nquarter -- benefits the targeted recipients.<\/p>\n
Only the self-styled opposition parties, the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction and the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP) faction, gave \"dissenting opinions\",
\nsaying they approved the proposed budget revision but
\n\"disapproved of the government's plan to raise fuel prices\".<\/p>\n
To a chorus of boos from House members, the PPP said the
\ngovernment should not raise fuel prices prior to the Ramadhan
\nfasting month and Idul Fitri holidays, but instead \"show
\ninnovation by scrapping the subsidies without increasing fuel
\nprices\".<\/p>\n
The two factions reminded the government of its promise not to
\nraise fuel prices after the average 29 percent increase brought
\nin on March 1.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction
\nrefrained from delivering its opinion, saying it would \"monitor
\nthe situation further\" before making up its mind.<\/p>\n
Legislator Abdul Hadi Jamal of the National Awakening Party
\n(PAN) faction said his faction proposed that the House defer its
\ndecision to another plenary session, pending an announcement by
\nthe government on the size of the fuel price increases.<\/p>\n
The first revision of the 2005 state budget allocated only Rp
\n76.5 trillion for subsidy spending based on an average annual oil
\nprice of US$45 a barrel, a rupiah - U.S. dollar exchange rate of
\nRp 9,300 and annual fuel consumption of 59.6 million kiloliters.<\/p>\n
This latest revision -- which has already been approved by the
\nHouse Budget Committee -- earmarks fuel subsidy spending at Rp
\n89.2 trillion.<\/p>\n
The Committee has also set the economic growth target at 6
\npercent, inflation at 8.6 percent and the rupiah-U.S. dollar
\nexchange rate at Rp 9.500.<\/p>\n
It also assumes state revenues of Rp 540 trillion, or 20.4
\npercent of the GDP, higher than the Rp 516.2 trillion proposed by
\nthe government. The revenue assumption includes tax revenues of
\nRp 352 trillion and non-tax revenues of Rp 180.7 trillion.<\/p>\n
As panic buying and protests have increased as Oct. 1
\napproaches, National Police have deployed intelligence officers to
\nmonitor the situation at gas stations and fuel depots across the
\ncountry to prevent violations and violence.<\/p>\n
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said
\npolice officers had also been ordered to supervise the
\ndisbursement of the direct assistance payments in post offices
\nand Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) branches.<\/p>\n
\"The police will also be on the lookout for demonstrations in
\nthe regions before and after the fuel price increases,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As for the capital, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut
\nUntung Yoga Ana, said the Jakarta police had assigned two-thirds
\nof its 17,000 officers to security duties.<\/p>\n
\"We will also continue our investigations into fuel hoarding
\nand the misuse of licenses by fuel agents in Greater Jakarta,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-oks-fuel-price-increases-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}