WHO was not shocked by the soaring price of Pertamax gasoline? Although the non-subsidized fuel is targeted at the middle and upper classes, the price, which reached Rp9,250 per liter in Jakarta in the middle of May, is clearly being felt everywhere. There could be a major shift to using subsidized Premium fuel, which is half the price.

The drastic reduction in the consumption of Pertamax and Pertamax Plus is a bad sign. Conversely, the demand f