Govt won't revoke subsidies: Hatta

Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said Monday the government would not revoke subsidies that the public were already receiving, especially those enjoyed by underprivileged families.

Instead, the government would restructure a subsidy pattern to ensure that subsidies reached their intended beneficiaries and to reduce instances of embezzlement during distribution, Hatta said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Hatta said that as much as half of the electricity subsidy was being received by improper recipients.

The government will start by giving farmers a direct subsidy on fertilizer, he said. The government would apply this scheme in all of its subsidies, should the fertilizer subsidy prove successful.