VIVAnews - The government is accused violating the Law on State Budget (APBN) with regard to its policy of fixing the premium fuel price to be more expensive compared to the price in the international market.
The accusation was thrown by the member of the Fuel Inquiry Right Committee from the House of Representatives (DPR), Dradjad Hari Wibowo, Thursday, Feb. 19.
According to Wibowo it is very clearly stated in the APBN Law that fuel is a government-subsidized product. But what happens is the contrary, i.e. that the government benefits from sale of refined fuel oil (BBM).
The government benefits Rp 3.3 trillion (US$275.1 million) from BBM sales from December 2008 until January 2009. This means that the government has no longer been giving out subsidised BBM. Therefore, he views the government decision to sell BBM at higher price as inappropriate.
"The ideal price for premium fuel today is Rp 3,900 (32.5 cents) per liter," said Wibowo. "It's violating the APBN Law."
Nonetheless, Wibowo admitted that the House has not agreed yet on the APBN Law violation interpretation. "Not all factions agree with this condition, but next weekend the House will decide," he said.
The accusation is denied by the head of Fiscal Policy Agency, Anggito Abimanyu. Just because the domestic price is higher than the world oil price it does not mean that the government has violated the APBN Law.
Abimanyu said that the present fuel price is a result of the continuously changing price of crude oil. "We make the calculation in APBN for one year period, but then again APBN is a plan," he said.
Dia menekankan pemerintah tidak pernah berniat mengambil untung dari BBM. Jika terdapat surplus, maka dana itu akan masuk ke APBN dan jika harga kemudian membutuhkan subsidi maka akan ditutup dari dana APBN. "Kenyataannya, harga memang terus berubah."
He emphasized that the government never intends to benefit from BBM. If there was a surplus, the fund will be allocated to the APBN and if later the price needs to be subsidized, it will be covered from the APBN fund. "The reality is the price keeps changing," he said.
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Translated by: Ariyantri E. Tarman
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