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Govt vows to settle business losses incurred from cooking oil flip-flop
Verified losses amounted to Rp 474 billion (US$29.8 million), according to independent surveyor PT Sucofindo.
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People shop for cooking oil on March 27, 2022, at a supermarket in Jakarta. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he government has reaffirmed its commitment to settle billions of rupiah in losses incurred from policies intended to bring down the price of cooking oil two years ago, but realization of that promise has remained unclear.
The losses were incurred while the government mandated that cooking oil was sold for less than Rp 14,000 (89 US cents) per liter in early 2022 despite a market price of between Rp 17,000 and Rp 24,000 at the time. The government promised to make up the lost profits to companies.
“We must resolve the cooking oil subsidy issue,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Monday, as quoted in a statement, following a meeting he led regarding the delayed payments. “We must swiftly resolve this to prevent losses for businesses.”
Luhut added that the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) has concluded its long-waited audits on the payments and found no discrepancies.
He also called relevant ministries to assist with the claims, particularly from small businesses, which potentially faced difficulties because of incomplete documentation and paperwork.
“Please assist them [in filing their claims] especially for small traders. The key is to ensure legal compliance,” he emphasized.
Read also: Firms turn to courts to recover losses from govt cooking oil flip-flop
