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Government to evaluate fuel prices after Idul Fitri
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A worker pumps gasoline into a motorcycle tank at a filling station in Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is set to evaluate fuel prices, particularly subsidized premium gasoline and diesel oil, after the Idul Fitri festivities.
"The prices of Premium Ron 88 and diesel oil will be reviewed in July," said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan as reported by Antara on Tuesday.
He was responding to a question about the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP), which has exceeded the government's assumption.
In the first five months of this year, ICP averaged US$49.9 per barrel, up 44.68 percent from $34.49 per barrel in the same period last year.
(Read also: Fuel demand for transportation to grow by 13%: Deputy minister)
Jonan did not explicitly say the government would increase the prices of subsidized fuels, but he believed that global fuel prices would be unlikely to fall after the seasonal holiday.
"The prices are unlikely to fall. The current prices were set when ICP stood at $40-$45 per barrel and ICP averages $49 per barrel currently," he noted.
He reminded that there was an agreement between the government and the House of Representatives not to increase subsidized prices from March to June, this year.
Therefore, he added, the price review would be held after June and any increases to prices would be decided at a Cabinet meeting. (bbn)
