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Fuel price hike nothing to do with general elections, VP says


Balikpapan, E Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla stressed that the government`s decision to raise fuel oil prices by about 30 percent in the near future has nothing to do with the 2009 general elections.

"The fuel oil price hike is purely to serve the people`s interest, not to serve the interest of SBY-JK (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla)," he said in a dialogue with Golkar party cadres here on Wednesday night.

Jusuf Kalla, the general chairman of Golkar party executive board said further that the decision to raise fuel oil prices became bad news to everyone especially to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, considering the heavy burden of the people.

Although it is unpopular, however, the decision should be taken, the Vice President said, adding that this is a good measure, despite hurting (the people) compared if the government takes no single initiative.

The Vice President said, the aim of such policy was only to stabilize the national economic situation which was affected by the world fuel price hike reaching US$100 per barrel, leading to the world food crises.

"So, should any circle disagree or wish to launch demonstration, just go on, it is another matter," he said.

Early in his dialogue with the state-run oil/gas company PT Pertamina provincial chapter officials, Jusuf Kalla said Indonesia always late in carrying development including modernizing the fuel production capacity.

[Anonymous]

Indonesia hikes fuel prices nearly 30 per cent to avert economic crisis

27 minutes ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia raised prices at the pump by nearly 30 per cent late Friday because of the surging cost of oil and gas on the global market, the government said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned earlier this month that budget-busting subsidies, which have for years enabled motorists to fill up for roughly US$1.80 per gallon, would have to be drastically slashed.

Most people realize he had little choice, but that has not stopped thousands of students from taking to the streets in recent days, warning that the cost of products and services including rice, cigarettes and public transportation will skyrocket.

Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said gas prices were being boosted 33 per cent to around $2.50 a gallon. Diesel oil jumped 27 per cent to around $2.30 per gallon. And kerosene, used primarily for cooking, 25 per cent to around $1 per gallon.

"The rise in world oil prices and the rise in our fuel subsidies ... has burdened the state budget," Yusgiantoro told a news conference following a meeting with Yudhoyono. "Therefore, we needed to adjust prices."

Subsidies put in place during the 32-year dictatorship of Suharto, who was ousted in 1998 amid massive protests, were aimed at protecting the country's most vulnerable. Many people here live on less than $2 a day.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia's largest oil producer and a member of OPEC, but it has to import oil following decades of declining investment in exploration and extraction.


Source: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hh6VzsrJr_dEsBYabGRKnYqNt5SQ