News analysis

Indonesia's fuel price hike a prudent move despite street protests, say analysts

Students rally against the recent fuel price hike in Surabaya on Sept 8, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
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JAKARTA - Indonesia's decision to raise fuel prices is a prudent one that will ease its growing fiscal burden, but the daily street protests against the policy need to be dealt with properly, say analysts.

They estimate that the price hike on Sept 3 would save between 100 trillion rupiah (S$9.5 billion) and 200 trillion rupiah in energy subsidies this year, which could be channelled to productive spending as South-east Asia recovers from the pandemic downturn.

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