Indonesia’s parliament to delay plan to curb fuel subsidy

An Indonesian parliamentary commission approved a government plan to delay limiting fuel subsidies on March 21 due to concerns over the impact of higher prices at the retail pump as crude oil prices continued to rise in the global market. No time-frame was given when the limits would kick in. The plan to prohibit private cars from buying cheaper, government subsidized fuel would have kicked in by the second quarter in the capital city of Jakarta. Indonesia had planned to roll out the subsidy cut across most of the archipelago by 2013. A delay until 2011 would mean full-year inflation could be around 6.5%, said Central Bank Governor Darmin Nasution. (March 21,2011)