Fuel subsidies hurting Indonesia: Pertamina executive

Fuel subsidies in Indonesia are hurting the economy, sucking away precious funds which could have been better used in other areas such as health and economic development, an Indonesian oil executive said Sunday.

The country cannot go on indefinitely subsidising fuel and bold decisions are needed from the government to address the situation, said Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja, a senior vice president with state-owned Pertamina.
“When you continue subsidising oil, there will be some distortion,” he said.

“I think the government will have to start making some bold efforts to rectify this, otherwise this is going to continue and perhaps even get worse because of the distortion in the market,” he said.

Asia Times