REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Days after flying economy class to his son's graduation in Singapore, Indonesia's president said on Monday, Nov 24, he would slash the travel budget for his cabinet to free up funds for desperately needed reforms in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has implemented in his first month as president. Jokowi last week raised fuel prices by more than 30 percent, saving the government around 11.5 billion USD in subsidies, or 9 percent of budgetary spending next year.

Jokowi, who has also taken steps to bolster tax collection, said he would cut the cabinet's travel and meeting budget next year to 25 trillion IDR (2.06 billion USD) from 41 trillion IDR.

"As we can see, business traveling and meeting up to today is only 22 trillion (IDR). So 25 trillion IDR is more than enough," Jokowi told reporters after meeting governors at the presidential palace.

"We will discuss with the governors on where we can use the savings."

On Friday, Jokowi decided against using the presidential jet to attend his son's graduation ceremony in Singapore. Instead, he flew economy class on national carrier Garuda Airlines, winning praise on social media for his "humility".

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