Communications Analyst Praises Cabinet Secretary Teddy for Explaining Pertamax Price Hike

Political communications analyst Hendri Satrio assessed that Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya’s intervention to explain the Pertamax price increase represents the government’s effort at public communication. He said the move was made amid a lack of response from technical agencies.

“What Teddy did, although good, is very minimal, and once again Teddy is the one putting himself on the line,” said Hensa, as quoted by Antara on Tuesday (16/6/2026).

Hensa stressed that fuel price increases such as Pertamax should be communicated verbally and directly to the public. One way, according to him, is through a press conference that thoroughly explains the reasons and impacts in detail.

“This Pertamax increase should have been announced orally, there should have been a press conference explaining in detail why the price went up and what the impact on the public is,” Hensa said.

It is known that the Cabinet Secretary’s explanation was delivered via the official Instagram account of the Cabinet Secretariat. In the post, the Cabinet Secretary explained that Pertamax is a type of non-subsidised fuel oil, so Pertamina sells it at a price that follows global oil price movements.

Nevertheless, since Pertamina raised the price of Pertamax and other non-subsidised fuel variants, the per-litre price of non-subsidised fuel in Indonesia remains cheaper compared to RON 92/95 fuel in several Southeast Asian countries, such as the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore.

“Pertamax is a non-subsidised fuel. This means the price of Pertamax must follow the world oil price. What are subsidised fuels? Pertalite and diesel. The price of subsidised fuel has not increased,” said Teddy.

Since world oil prices rose due to the war between Iran and the United States and Israel, the price of subsidised fuel has not increased, remaining at Rp 10,000 per litre for Pertalite and Rp 6,800 per litre for diesel.

Meanwhile, the price of non-subsidised fuel such as Pertamax only increased as of 10 June 2026, from Rp 12,300 per litre to Rp 16,250 per litre.