By Kanupriya Kapoor and Michael Taylor
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's President-elect Joko Widodo plans to order the steepest rise in subsidised fuel prices in nine years soon after he takes over the reins of Southeast Asia's largest economy, an adviser told Reuters on Friday.
The new minority coalition government will be taking a highly unpopular step as Widodo, due to be sworn in on Monday, has to urgently address Indonesia's biggest fiscal problem - a $23 billion (14.29 billion pound) fuel subsidy bill.
Worries over potential for political gridlock were eased after a meeting on Friday between Widodo and opposition leader Prabowo Subianto, who for the first time offered congratulations to the incoming president.
Widodo proposes to raise the gasoline price by 46 percent, and diesel by 55 percent, possibly as early as Nov. 1, in a move that will save the government nearly $13 billion next year, the adviser said.
"It's safe to say they are likely to do it within the first two weeks of taking office," said the adviser, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Another source, familiar with the plans, confirmed the magnitude and timeframe for the proposed price increases.
Last year, gasoline prices were raised 44 percent, but the outgoing president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, ducked ordering another hike this year despite a deteriorating fiscal position.
The proposed price increases still pale beside the hike of more than 87 percent for gasoline and 105 percent for diesel that were ordered in October 2005.
Raising fuel prices is a sensitive issue that typically sparks protests and contributed to the downfall of long-serving autocrat and then president Suharto in 1998.
Widodo could still amend his plan, the adviser said. But whereas the size of the increases will be criticised by opposition parties, the government does not need parliamentary approval to raise fuel prices.
The former Jakarta governor will need support for future tricky decisions, however, and he has sought to mend ties with Prabowo and other opposition parties after a disputed election that was the closest in Indonesia's history.
The meeting with Prabowo on Friday appeared to ease tensions, though it was unclear whether they discussed a hike in fuel prices.
"Our objectives are the same ... everything will be done for the good of the nation," Widodo said.
Prabowo, a former general, congratulated Widodo and saluted him once the press conference was over.
"I conveyed that the party I lead, my supporters, I will ask them to support Joko Widodo and the government he will lead," Prabowo said. "When there are things that we judge to not be for the benefit of the people...we will not hesitate to criticise."
The prospect of a fuel price hike to bring down a worrying fiscal deficit and Prabowo's words gave heart to investors in Indonesian assets.
The stock market closed up 1.6 percent. The rupiah currency had its best day in three months, rising almost 1 percent, while 10-year government bond yields eased.
PROTECTING THE POOR
Widodo currently plans to raise the price of both gasoline and diesel by 3,000 rupiah ($0.25) per litre by November, the advisor said. Indonesian fuel prices are currently among the cheapest in the region, with gasoline costing 6,500 rupiah a litre, and diesel costing 5,500 rupiah.
"We would probably oppose it on the grounds it would be too much of a shock to the system," Hashim Djojohadikusumo, a top aide and brother of Prabowo told Reuters last week.
He said opposition lawmakers would likely favour a smaller increase in pump prices, of around 1,000-1,500 rupiah.
The government is expected to save 156 trillion rupiah ($12.76 billion) next year in fuel subsidy costs, the adviser said. In the 2015 budget, fuel and gas subsidies make up 13.5 percent of government spending.
Widodo has said the money saved would be diverted to spending on infrastructure, agriculture, education, and health projects.
To offset the higher fuel prices, Widodo plans to provide the poorest families with 300,000 rupiah per quarter until the first quarter of 2016, the adviser said.
A further fuel price will be considered in the fourth quarter of 2015, the adviser added.
The 2014 budget deficit had been targeted at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, but it is in danger of busting a budget law setting the limit at 3 percent because of a shortfall in tax revenues and the slowest economic growth in five years.
A fuel price hike of 3,000 rupiah in November would save the government 21 trillion rupiah in the last two months of this year, the current Finance Minister, Chatib Basri, said.
The planned fuel price hike would add an additional 3-3.5 percentage points to inflation this year, and the inflationary pressures would last around three months, said the deputy central bank governor Perry Warjiyo.
The current estimate for 2014 inflation is 5.3 percent.
The fuel price hike will help ease the current account deficit to below 2.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2015 from a projected 3.2 percent this year.
(Additional reporting by Fransiska Nangoy, Gayatri Suroyo, Adriana Nina Kusuma and Wilda Asmarini in Jakarta; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)