Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - The government will soon announce lower subsidized premium gasoline and diesel oil prices, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said here on Friday.
The minister said his office had continued to follow oil price and exchange rate developments over the past few days.
"We have been making calculations but have not yet found a fixed rate ( price cuts)," he said.
He said the government was still waiting for stable trends in the world crude price and the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar.
"Once we find a stable rate, I think we will soon announce the price cuts," he said.
Oil and Gas Director General Evita Legowo said meanwhile that she was still studying the lowering of fuel oil prices but her office found that the economically realistic price of diesel oil was still above the subsidized price of Rp5,500 per liter.
Previously, based on the calculations of the energy and mineral resources ministry, the economic price of premium gasoline on December 1, was Rp4,800 per liter or below that of subsidized price of Rp5,500 a liter.
Calculations on fuel oil prices for January 2009 would be based on the average price of oil prices and exchange rates from December 1 to 31, 2008.
The government had promised to cut the diesel oil price and reduce for the second time that of premium gasoline in January, 2009.
The lowering of the fuel oil prices is expected to raise further the people`s purchasing power after the government cut subsidized premium gasoline price on December 1, 2008.
The finance minister and other relevant ministers are now calculating the rates for the cuts in premium gasoline and diesel oil prices.
The world crude price has dropped by US$100 a barrel within a period of less than five months since it was recorded at US$147 per barrel in mid July 2008.
The price now is about US$40 per barrel and showing a continuous downward trend.
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