Indonesia eyes $588-mln power subsidies

JAKARTA, March 13, 2018 – Indonesia’s finance ministry expects to spend IDR 8.1 trillion (USD 588 million) to freeze electricity tariffs and some fuel prices this year, international media reported Monday.

The plan to keep prices unchanged for two years, a measure to encourage consumption and minimise inflation, was announced last week.

“We are mitigating the risks to inflation and to the balance sheets of companies through a number of regulations,” Finance Minister Mulyani Indrawati was quoted as saying by Reuters.

To bring power shortages to an end, President Joko Widodo announced a plan to add 35 GW to the country’s national grid by 2019. The goal, first made public in April 2015, will see the construction of nearly 300 new power plants and will cost roughly USD 72.5 billion.

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