Indonesians may have a few more days to enjoy their gasoline at one of the world's cheapest levels, as the government still needed to complete certain technical matters before implementing the fuel-price increase, a senior government official has said.

'The government will increase the price of subsidized fuel but we will need time. The approval from the House of Representatives must be legalized mainly because, at present, it remains in the form of a bill, not a law,' Finance Minister Chatib Basri told a press briefing in his Jakarta office on Tuesday.

The bill must be signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before it can become law.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said on Tuesday that the administration of the revised state budget would take no more than seven days to complete.

'In fact, putting the new fuel-price policy into effect can be faster than seven days,' he told reporters in Jakarta. 'The new fuel prices will be announced no later one week from now.'

In addition, he said, his office would also publish a ministerial regulation for the rise in the price of Premium gasoline to Rp 6,500 (66 US cents) per liter and diesel to Rp 5,500 per liter from Rp 4,500 per liter, respectively.

Yudhoyono was set to hold a Cabinet meeting this week to determine who would announce the new fuel prices. According to Jero, it would be a Democratic Party politician close to the party leader.

Lawmakers approved on Monday the 2013 revised state budget, paving the way for the government to increase the price of subsidized fuel. The agreed budget includes a financial assistance program for the impoverished, described by the President as a prerequisite before any adjustment in fuel prices could take place.

One of the financial relief programs is the distribution of temporary direct cash assistance (BLSM) of Rp 150,000 per month to spur the purchasing power of at least 15.5 million low-income households. Around 62 million people could be targeted in the scheme, given that one household contained an average of four family members, said Chatib.

'If we do nothing, then the number of people living below the poverty line will increase from 10.5 percent to 12.1 percent, an increase of around 4 million citizens. This is why the scheme is necessary,' the finance minister said.

Chatib also dismissed fears that the direct cash assistance program would instill a handout mentality among the poor, discouraging them from working.

'I quote a study from the Smeru research institute, which states that the amount distributed in the BLSM scheme is precise: It is big enough to spur people's purchasing power, but inadequate to dissuade people from working,' he said.

BLSM payments could be given to the needy as soon as early July after the fuel-price hike took effect, added Chatib. The Finance Ministry plans to earmark Rp 360 billion as 'safeguard funding' when monitoring the BLSM's distribution process.

Speaking separately to reporters at his office, Vice President Boediono also took time on Tuesday to defend the assistance program, criticized by many as tainted with political motives ahead of the 2014 election.

'Should there be anyone who is concerned about this, please bear in mind that the Rp 150,000 per month will mean very little for our constituents. Our people have become very smart; such a relatively small amount of money will not affect their [political] choices,' he said.

On Tuesday, the market gave a mixed response to the passage of the revised state budget with the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) rising 1.4 percent to reach 4,840.45.

The rupiah, which analysts forecast will strengthen following an adjustment in fuel prices, tumbled 0.4 percent to hit 9,918 per US dollar, according to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR). A government bond auction on Tuesday only raked in Rp 2.65 trillion, the lowest ever figure this year and well below the indicative target of Rp 8 trillion, with all yields of bonds offered in the auction rising significantly.

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