Introduce targeted petrol subsidy, says Fomca
PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to introduce a targeted petrol subsidy initiative in the 2019 Budget to tackle the possibility of higher world oil prices next year.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said an increase in world oil prices might force the government to raise the retail price of RON95 petrol, which could have a big impact as it would raise the cost of living.
He said one way to reduce the impact would be via a targeted petrol subsidy, which needs to be introduced in the 2019 Budget.
“We understand the challenges faced by the government in terms of finances. But the focus has to remain on reducing the people’s cost of living.
“If there is a review of petrol prices next year, it could have a major impact.
“A targeted subsidy is the right initiative to reduce this impact as it would only be given to those who deserve it,” he said.
Yusof said the government would be wise to continue several initiatives and incentives undertaken by the previous administration, such as the 1Malaysia People’s Aid and Klinik 1Malaysia, which he said benefited the people.
Fomca, he said, hoped that education scholarships would be retained, including the MyBrain15 programme.
On the possibility of the government introducing new taxes, Yusof said this had to be imposed only on the high-income group to not burden those from the lowerand middle-income groups.
“New taxes include soda tax, digital tax as well as environment tax,” he said, adding that he hoped the government would not reduce allocations for healthcare.”