Lim: RM4.89bil spent on subsidies for RON95 and diesel last year
PETALING JAYA:
The government is set to unveil the mechanism to determine fuel prices today, and has revealed that the subsidies for RON95 and diesel between January and November last year totalled RM4.89bil.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said for November alone, RM4.1mil was spent to subsidise RON95 and the diesel subsidy was RM209.1mil.
“The simple truth is that the government subsidised RON95 petrol and diesel in November, albeit at a lower cost than previous months.
“The government has neither profited from retail petrol pump prices nor imposed a sales tax on RON95 or diesel.
“Any allegations that the government has been taxing petrol are false and baseless,” he said in response to Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin’s claim that the Pakatan Harapan government sold RON95 at higher than market prices for six weeks between November and December.
“The government profited at the expense of the people,” the former youth and sports minister had said.
He added that according to world market prices, the price of RON95 petrol should have been RM1.94 in the last week of December.
After the general election in May, the prices of RON95 and diesel were set at RM2.20 and RM2.18 respectively, while the price of RON97 was set by the weekly price float system.
He said the subsidy for diesel was higher than RON95 in November as it was heavily used not only for commercial and industrial sectors, but also by the public in Sabah and Sarawak.
He reiterated that a floating mechanism would be implemented this month, where pump prices would fall on a weekly basis if the automatic price mechanism (APM) prices decreased further.
“If APM prices rise, the retail prices would be stabilised at the current fixed levels at RM2.20 for RON95 and RM2.18 for diesel.
“This government is dedicated to transparency. If and when the APM prices drop further, the government will adjust the pricing downward so that Malaysians will benefit from cheaper fuel prices.
“Once the government rolls out its targeted petrol subsidy programme before the end of this year, the prices of petrol and diesel will be floated freely based on market prices,” Lim said.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the mechanism to determine fuel prices would be announced through the official government channel.
“As mentioned by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, the price of RON95 and diesel will be decided by the Cabinet.
“The Cabinet met on Wednesday and there was a decision,” he said at the launch of Tesco Malaysia’s Chinese New Year Ong Mali campaign.
He was tight-lipped on the form of the mechanism, but gave assurance that the decision took into account the interest of all stakeholders.
The weekly float system was to have started on New Year day, but has been put on hold.
Lim said a weekly float system would be used to determine RON95 from Jan 1 due to the falling prices of crude oil, which would let consumers enjoy lower prices.
But on Dec 31, the government said the current retail prices of fuel would stay for the first week of 2019.