Indonesia determining who will get fuel subsidies as price hike looms By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Indonesian President Joko Widodo attends a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their meeting in Moscow,mc global investment app download Russia June 30, 2022. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is considering restricting the number of people who receive fuel subsidies, President Joko Widodo said on Thursday, even as the government mulls a price hike to control a ballooning subsidy bill.

Indonesia's fuel subsidy budget has tripled to 502 trillion rupiah ($33.94 billion) this year to keep prices of gasoline, diesel and some power tariffs unchanged. A price hike may happen this year, authorities have said, to ease pressure on the state budget.

"Our ministries have hesitated to implement the targeted subsidy plan because of data inaccuracy," Jokowi, as the president is known, said in an interview with CNBC Indonesia TV, adding that data integration across ministries is in progress.

Restricting the recipients of fuel subsidies has been discussed as a way to control the cost of subsidising energy in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, he said.

State energy firm Pertamina, which distributes subsidised fuels, plans to limit sales after making consumers register their vehicles digitally so the company can identify whether subsidies are reaching intended recipients.

For 2023, Indonesia has proposed lower energy subsidies at 336.7 trillion with the assumption that the price of crude oil would drop to around $90 per barrel.

($1 = 14,790.0000 rupiah)

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