Sultan HB X Warns Against Extravagance as Fuel Prices Rise

Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X has responded to the increase in non-subsidised fuel prices that took effect last week. He has called on the public, particularly in Yogyakarta, to be more cautious and wise in managing their finances and to avoid extravagant lifestyles. According to the King of the Yogyakarta Palace, austerity measures are crucial at this time given that fluctuations in the prices of staple goods and energy continue to rise, while public income levels tend to remain unchanged. “The current condition is that residents’ incomes are relatively fixed, so they must ensure that their spending on necessities does not exceed their means,” the Sultan said on Monday, 15 June 2026. The Sultan stated that in the current economic situation, wasteful habits can easily make people miserable. “Like buying something unnecessary, owning assets that are actually not needed. What for?” he remarked. Therefore, he said, efficiency measures in response to the fuel price hike are now also being strictly implemented by the Provincial Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta Regional Secretary Ni Made Dwi Panti Indrayanti explained that local government officials must now think creatively to strategise and redesign operational budget allocations, particularly those related to official vehicle mobility. Made explained that the energy-saving scheme and restrictions on official vehicle use had actually been running since the directive from the central government was issued, which was then implemented through a car-free day programme within the local government environment. “Actually, we have already been implementing efficiency in the use of official vehicles since the call for efficiency related to energy use,” she said. In addition, Made claimed that the Yogyakarta Regional Government’s budget design is already very minimalist. The DIY Regional Government will also not change or increase its expenditure budget structure following this energy price surge due to a lack of fiscal space. Therefore, the only rational solution is to optimise existing operational funds by rearranging the utilisation procedures and intensity of official vehicle use in the field. “There is no budget change as a result of the fuel price increase, because how could it change? Even if it did, there is no budget available. So we must optimise what we have. We are only regulating the method of use, the utilisation of the official vehicles themselves,” Made stated. Nevertheless, Made did not deny that the regional secretariat had experienced difficulties in controlling operational fuel costs. This occurred because official vehicles are required to use certain types of non-subsidised fuel, such as Dex, whose price has also been pushed up in recent days. Consequently, the local government must now strictly apply a priority scale to maintain the quality of public services so they do not decline. The prices of non-subsidised fuel commodities such as Pertamax and Pertamax Green were suddenly adjusted upwards as of 10 June 2026. Under the latest policy, the price of Pertamax currently stands at 16,250 rupiah per litre, a significant increase of nearly 4,000 rupiah compared to the previous price of 12,300 rupiah per litre. At the same time, the Pertamax Green variant also climbed to 17,000 rupiah per litre from its original price of 12,900 rupiah per litre.