new fuel prices up by 126%

JAKARTA (JP): The government announced early on Saturday that the prices of fuels for domestic consumption raised in an average of 126 percent.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie announced at the Ministry of Finance compound that premium gasoline was raised from Rp 2,400 to Rp 4,500 (23 U.S. cents to 44 U.S. cents) per liter while diesel fuel is raised from Rp 2,100 to Rp 4,300 per liter.

Kerosene, mostly used by poor families, was raised almost two-fold from Rp 700 to Rp 2,000.

The announcement, initially planned at 10 p.m. on Friday, was made after a prolonged Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace. (nvn)

source: The Jakarta Post

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also, i received an sms about protests due to new fuel prices. it reads like this.

INFO: bsk siang dr jam 9-14 kalo bs jgn kluar2 ke kota, katanya org turun demo ke gedung DPR, jam 12 siang smua org yg kerja hrs berenti 'n ikut demo. takutnya kerusuhan.. nama gerakannya PEOPLE'S POWER! kasih tau ke semua temen y'n family... thx

not sure if the source is true. but i guess there's nothing wrong with taking precaution.

the worst thing is, the new fuel price will hit the poor most. and of course, there'll also be an increase for minimum wage and so on. business is going to be more tough than ever. even i feel that the 87.5% increase for premium price is bitter. can you imagine that a rp. 50.000 can only buy 11 litre of premium? just yesterday, rp 50000 can fill almost half my car tank.

but again, there are things that must be considered as well. as what SBY said "i realize that this is not a popular policy, a bitter pill that we have to swallow, but we have to do it to save the nation's budget and the future of the country,"

let's just pray that the government is making the right decision and trust their fore sight.