The Rp502-trillion (US$33.6 billion) energy subsidy for 2022 equals the budget needed to develop several public facilities, including schools, hospitals, and toll roads, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has highlighted.
“This is only to present a perspective about the huge sum of the energy subsidy in 2022; the disbursed sum is even not sufficient yet,” she said at a press conference on the follow-up actions to the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs’ meeting on the vehicle fuel subsidy, here on Friday.
The minister pointed out that the Rp502-trillion subsidy can be used to develop 3,333 mid-level hospitals, assuming the construction of each hospital requires funds of Rp150 billion (US$10.05 million).
“If the Health Minister requested hospital development fund now, (the development) can reach even the remote regions,” she remarked.
The subsidy is also equal to the funds required to develop 41,666 public health centers in various regions, particularly in the remote and border regions, with a Rp12-billion (US$804 thousand) budget for every location, the minister pointed out.
Moreover, the subsidy is equal to the budget needed to develop 227,886 primary schools, primarily in regions without any primary schools, with each school receiving Rp2.19 billion (US$146 thousand), she added.
Indrawati said that the huge sum could also fund the construction of 3,501 kilometers of new toll roads — assuming Rp142.8 billion (US$9.56 million) is needed to build 1 km — or equal to the entire length of the completed Trans-Sumatra toll road.
The minister further revealed that the vehicle fuel subsidy and compensation fund is expected to rise by Rp195.6 trillion (US$13.3 billion) to reach Rp698 trillion (US$46.7 billion). The surge is expected due to fluctuations in global fuel prices, the exchange rate of the national currency, and public consumption, she said.
The Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) has increased from US$100 per barrel to US$105, while the exchange rate of the rupiah has risen from Rp14,450 per US$1 to Rp14,700, she noted.
The ministry has also projected that the consumption of subsidized RON 90 fuel Pertalite will reach 126 percent of the 23.05 million kiloliters quota, and the consumption of subsidized diesel fuel Solar will reach 115 percent of the 15.1 million kiloliters quota, she added.
Source: Antara News