Fuel Subsidy Should Provide for Poor People

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Increase in subsidized fuel prices should be accompanied with a step to provide subsidy for poor people who need it, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said.

"It would be better if state budget, which so far is much used to subsidize fuel, is used for helping the poor, rather than letting the rich to spend it," the minister told a press conference here on Monday.

He said that fuel oil subsidy could be used to develop an entrepreneurship program and open new jobs through productive labor intensive programs and infrastructure development in urban and rural areas.

Muhaimin said that apart from the polemics of the government's plan to raise subsidized fuel oil prices, all people should understand that raising the price was something that could not be avoided now.

"The decision to increase fuel price will safeguard the state budget and the nation's economic growth," he said. (*/DWA)