President-elect Studying 2015 Budget Plan

Jakarta (Antara) - President-elect Joko Widodo is studying the Draft 2015 State Budget which has been submitted by the government to the House of Representatives (DPR) for further deliberations and endorsement. "We are still studying it. I think the amount of subsides set in the draft state budget is too big," Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, said during the commemoration of Indonesia's 69th independence anniversary at the State Palace here on Sunday. He said there were several sectors which could receive efficient budget. As an example, he said, fuel for power generators of the state-owned power firm PLN could be taken from coal, not from natural oil. "PLN, for example, could replace its fuels with coals to generate its power generators. This could economize up to Rp70 trillion," Jokowi, who is also Jakarta governor, said. He expressed hope that in the next government, the portion of budget for development would be bigger than the one for routine expenditures or for subsidies. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced on Friday a budget plan for 2015 amounting to Rp2,019.9 trillion to be submitted to the DPR for further discussion and endorsement. In the draft 2015 state budget, the government has set aside Rp433.5 trillion for subsidy expenditures. While delivering a speech on the draft state budget for 2015 and its financial notes in a plenary session of the DPR, the president noted that the subsidy budget of Rp433.5 trillion comprised Rp363.5 trillion energy subsidies and Rp70 trillion non-energy subsidies. Of the energy subsidies which totaled Rp363.5 trillion for next year, Rp291.1 trillion is allocated to fuel with a projected quota volume of 48 million kiloliters. Next year's quota is higher than the current revised quota of 46 million kiloliters. (*)