Indonesia braces for fuel protest

Indonesia is to mobilise thousands of extra police in the capital Jakarta and other cities to guard against expected protests at fuel price increases.
Petrol and kerosene prices are set to rise sharply on Saturday as the government cuts subsidies to try and tackle a budget crisis.
……Indonesia has some of the most generous fuel subsidies in Asia, a throwback to its days as a net oil exporter.

But it now has to import oil, and the sharp rise in oil prices has threatened to overwhelm the government’s budget. Worries about the budget position triggered a sharp drop in the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, last month.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the price rises last week, and parliament approved the plan on Tuesday by voting to cap government spending on fuel subsidies at $8.7bn.

BBC