Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina put up the price of non-subsidised 12-kilogramme cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 68 percent from January 1.

According to Pertamina’s vice president Ali Mundakir, the Indonesian Government allowed his company to raise the price of gas to make up losses in its business, which hit 6,000 billion Rp (almost 496 million USD) last year.

With the increase, the price of each 12-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder will become 117,708 Rp (about 9.2 USD).

Earlier, Indonesian Minister of Trade Gita Wirjawan has warned that the increase of gas price will make the country’s inflation situation more serious in 2014.

According to Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency, the country witnessed an inflation rate of 8.38 percent in 2013, nearly doubling compared to the previous year and putting pressure on the country’s fluctuant economy.-VNA