Subsidizing Price Hikes

Even if the government increases fuel prices, that won't end its budget deficits.

January 15, 2002

FANTASTIC! Over the past week, the price of rice rose each day by Rp100 a kilogram. So too, cooking oil. Long queues for kerosene were seen in many places. By and large, prices were 30 to 40 percent higher than they were the week before. The poor quality rice offered by Bulog at a supposedly cheaper price of Rp58,000 per 20 kilograms drew only scorn and derision. Everywhere—on the market and in the warungs—people were asking: What

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