N

strong>Nov. 19, p2

Since the price gap has narrowed, following the government'€™s decision to raise subsidized fuel prices, middle-class motorists have shifted to non-subsidized fuels.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Monday evening announced the new price of subsidized Premium gasoline, setting it at Rp 8,500 (70 US cents) from a previous Rp 6,500.

That compares with the price of non-subsidized Pertamax '€”
Rp 10,200 per liter '€” which is driven by market price, meaning that the difference has narrowed to Rp 1,700 from Rp 3,700 per liter previously.

The gap is the smallest since late 2008 and will be even narrower as state oil and gas firm Pertamina, which sells subsidized and non-subsidized fuels, will slash the price of Pertamax to below Rp 10,000 per liter.

Your comments:

Cars will still run as long as you don'€™t drive at peak power. Newer cars nowadays are able to adjust their timing down to the fuel
you use.

Other than high-performance vehicles, most cars are designed with the assumption that they will be sold to countries where only low octane is available, and RON88 is not the lowest.

Ponders

Premium is a misleading name. Call it what it is '€” subsidized fuel.

Since Pertamax is not subsidized, I am eagerly waiting low global oil prices to be reflected in the pricing of Pertamax, as they should be.

Can we also expect a non-subsidized and higher quality version of diesel soon?

So far the only alternative is Detramax, which costs Rp 25,000 per liter and is only sold (in extremely limited quantities) in sealed five-liter containers at Pertamina stations (at least where I am living).

IA Groot

I feel the people are happier with the knowledge that Jokowi will give back what he took. His predecessor, on the other hand, did not give the people the same feeling, so the planned increase caused many large, violent protests.

The people have seen what Jokowi did for Jakarta. He comes across as sincere, and I for one
congratulate the Indonesian people for having faith in the man they voted for.

It'€™s going to be a tough time ahead with all the political backlash and back-stabbing but I feel Jokowi has the guts to fight. This is going to be a good time to be here and see the changes ahead.

LAF

If people have enough money to buy a car they should not be using subsidized fuel. That'€™s cheating the poor and the people that do need it, and a misuse of a public service.

Frank Musiol

It could be time to switch to better fuels.  Bye-bye Premium, it was fun.

JLC