Subsidized Fuel Quota Cannot be Increased: Minister

Jakarta (Antara) - The quota of subsidized fuel set at 46 million kiloliters for 2014 could not be raised because the House's Budgetary Body and the government had already agreed while discussing the revised budget, a minister said. "Additional subsidized fuel quota cannot be permitted because the law has been regulated like that. So, we have to stick to it," Finance Minister Chatib Basri said here on Wednesday evening. Chatib reminded that the government at the beginning had asked for a space in the law on Revised 2014 State Budget to anticipate if the volume of consumption exceeded the 46 million quota before the end of the year, but the House's Budgetary Body had rejected it. Over the last few days, long queues have been forming at refilling stations in several regions due to scarcity of subsidized fuel supplies. The scarcity in the field was caused by state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina's move to restrict the sale of fuel in order to maintain the quota of 46 million kiloliters from running out before the end of the year. (*)