REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Coordinating Minister of Economy Sofyan Djalil stated that the development of natural gas was one of government's top priorities. Government allocates enough budget to the program, aiming to distribute natural gas to households through pipe.
"We allocate enough budget so that houses and apartments can use natural gas instead of LPG," Minister Djalil said recently.
Without mentioning the amount of the budget, Djalil said that the budget came from fiscal room with a total of 230 trillion IDR. It comes from government's recent move on revoking subsidy for 88-octane Premium fuel.
The former Minister of State-owned Enterprises said that the development of natural gas was mainly to decrease dependence on LPG. Government recently hiked the price of 12 kg LPG. With the raising price, more people buy the 3 kg subsidized LPG.
"It is to prevent moral hazard. We have subsidized and non-subsidized LPG. I hope we can distribute more natural gas in the next five years," he said.