Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said on Monday it was ready to raise the price of non-subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) this year to reduce losses from the sale of the fuel.

The current price of non-subsidized LPG was far below its economic price, Pertamina marketing and commercial director Achmad Faisal said.

The economic price of LPG currently reached around Rp8,000 a kg, while the price of non-subsidized LPG in 12-kg cylinders was only Rp5,850 a kg, he said.

"This has made Pertamina suffer losses from the sales of non-subsidized LPG. We will raise the price merely to reduce the company`s losses," he said.

Last year Pertamina suffered a loss of Rp2.6 trillion from the sales of non-subsidized LPG.

The selling price of non-subsidized LPG in 12-kg cylinders currently reached Rp5,750 a kg, well below its production cost of Rp7,500-8,000 a kg, he said.

However, the company had yet to decide by how much and when exactly the price of non-subsidized LPG would be raised, he said."To be sure, the price will be raised in stages this year," he said.

Last year Pertamina planned to raise the price of non-subsidized LPG by Rp500 a kg every quarter. But the plan drew resistance from the public and parliament which asked the government to review it.

The price of non-subsidized LPG was later raised by Rp100 a kg.With the increase, Pertamina last year suffered a loss of Rp2.6 trillion from the sales of non-subsidized LPG in 12-kg cylinders, Pertamina senior vice president for marketing and commerce Hanung Budya Yuktianta said.

Hanung said the planned gradual rise in the price of non-subsidized LPG would not cause inflation as was the case with the sales of non-subsidized fuel oils which fluctuated.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli

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