Oil Prices Jump, Purbaya Has Not Discussed Options to Raise Subsidised Fuel Prices

Oil Prices Jump, Purbaya Has Not Discussed Options to Raise Subsidised Fuel Prices

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The government has not discussed the potential increase in prices of subsidised fuels such as Pertalite as a consequence of the rise in world oil prices, which have surged to US$86 per barrel.

“Not yet, because I said the budget is still safe,” said Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa at a press conference on Friday 6 March 2026.

From current calculations, the price pressure on oil that could widen the state budget deficit (APBN) is US$92 per barrel, from the normal price assumed in the APBN of around US$60 per barrel.

The government has experience in facing oil price pressures up to above US$100 per barrel. In fact, when world oil prices were at US$150 per barrel, Indonesia’s economy remained resilient.

“We have passed through a situation where oil prices reached US$150 per barrel; did the economy collapse? The numbers slowed but did not collapse, so we have experience,” Purbaya said.

Moreover, he emphasised, when oil prices rise high, major producing countries will not allow prices to stay at the top level because there is not a single country capable of purchasing them, which could potentially drag the global economy down.