JAKARTA: Indonesia is looking at gradually implementing measures to make fuel subsidies more targeted, while assessing their impact on the economy.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government had been tasked with ensuring subsidies were better targeted, following discussions on the issue at the House of Representatives (DPR) last year.

"The first thing that needs to be clarified is that prices will not increase as Bahlil (Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia) has said,” he said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday according to a video made available by local media on YouTube.

Purbaya said the government had examined the technology for the initiative, while state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina had also conducted research on the matter, which he had reviewed in Surabaya.

He said the measures would be implemented gradually to assess their impact on the economy, citing as an example a possible restriction on purchases of Pertalite, Indonesia’s subsidised RON 90 petrol by those in the highest expenditure group.

"We will do it gradually to see what the impact will be. If, for example, I stop those in decile 10 from buying Pertalite, what would be the impact on the economy? So we will proceed gradually,” he said.

Decile 10 refers to the top 10 per cent of households ranked by expenditure under Indonesia’s socioeconomic classification system. - Bernama