Indonesia to raise oil price in October

The Indonesian government will raise oil price at the beginning of October as an adjustment to the spiraling global oil price, Indonesian State Secretary Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said in Jakarta Monday.

But, the minister said that the government had not determined the date of the hike.

"The people must make a preparation to the hike," he said at the presidential office after a teleconference between Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is visiting the United States, and Vice President Jusuf Kalla here.

According to Yusril, the president has instructed through the video conference the ministers of transportation and labor to take necessary steps to anticipate the hike.

Yusril also said that the president also asked the vice president to coordinate with related ministers to provide compensation to the poor people due to the rise of 29 percent oil price in March, the Bisnis online said.

The government has decided to provide 10 US dollars per month to each of the 15.5 million heads of poor families.

The spiraling global oil price led the country's currency to a four-year low of nearly 12,000 rupiah to a US dollar last month.

Source: Xinhua