Fuel price to be lowered to Rp 6,500: Jokowi

JAKARTA. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said Thursday that the price of Premium gasoline, which was adjusted earlier this month, would be lowered further in response to plunging global oil prices.

The new policy might see the price of Premium gasoline return to the Rp 6,500 (US 51 cents) per liter set by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In November last year, Jokowi increased the fuel price to Rp 8,500 per liter, before lowering it to Rp 7,600 in January in response to falling oil prices.

This week, the price of Brent crude oil, a benchmark for worldwide oil prices, fell to US$46.5 per barrel, its lowest level in more than five years. That compares with its price of around $80 per barrel in November.

“Our calculation shows that the fuel price could be lowered to between Rp 6,400 and Rp 6,500 [per liter],” Jokowi said on Thursday in Jakarta. The state budget would still be in healthy shape despite the fuel price adjustment, he added.

The new fuel price could be applied in the next few days and it would not have to wait until February, Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil explained to reporters on Thursday.

Jokowi also said that the adjustment in fuel prices would be followed by a decline in transportation costs, food prices and, ultimately, the overall inflation rate. He is aiming for inflation to fall below 5 percent by the end of this year, compared to the 8.4 percent it was at in December.

Jokowi was optimistic that he would be successful in controlling inflation, citing his success when dealing with speculators that benefited from the high level of food prices during his time as mayor of Surakarta, Central Java.

“I will undertake efforts to ensure that price levels will go down,” the President said. “To the people who are accustomed to hoarding [food supplies] and manipulating prices: be careful. I will come after you all.” (Satria Sambijantoro)