Pertamax Price Hike: Economist Urges Government to Swiftly Distribute Cash Aid

Trimegah Sekuritas Indonesia Chief Economist Fakhrul Fulvian believes the government needs to prepare a swift and targeted cash social assistance programme to maintain public purchasing power amid the Pertamax price increase. “The most important thing now is to ensure that the affected communities do not bear the entire burden of this adjustment,” Fakhrul said in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday (11/6/2026). Fakhrul stated that the government must immediately prepare direct cash assistance as an economic buffer for vulnerable groups, the lower middle class, and those most affected by the rise in transportation and daily living costs. By utilising technological capabilities such as digital payment systems, integration of population and banking data, and developments in artificial intelligence, assistance can be distributed more quickly and accurately. According to him, speed of implementation is a critical factor. The distribution of aid should ideally take place immediately after the price increase comes into effect to prevent an overly deep decline in household consumption. Overall, Fakhrul assessed the government’s decision to adjust Pertamax prices with an increase of more than 30 percent as a difficult step, yet unavoidable under current fiscal conditions. He also sees the government facing significant challenges. On one hand, the need to maintain fiscal sustainability is growing. On the other, there are pressures on the rupiah exchange rate, rising energy import costs, and the necessity of maintaining fiscal stability. Therefore, the Pertamax price hike should be viewed as part of a broader fiscal adjustment process. He added that the success of this policy will heavily depend on the government’s courage to evaluate and reorganise various state spending programmes so that the created fiscal space can truly be utilised optimally. He specifically highlighted the importance of evaluating and reorganising the Free Nutritious Meal programme so that its social objectives are still achieved, but with a more efficient and sustainable design.