‘Commission hike should help’
Lim: Three-sen increase will address shortfall for petrol dealers
GEORGE TOWN: The federal government’s decision to increase the sales commission for petrol dealers by three sen should make up for any shortfall caused by the newly implemented weekly fuel prices, says Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said the federal government decided to increase the commission, which was approved during the Cabinet meeting on Jan 2.
“I do not know the exact amount but the increase by three sen is huge. I think the increase will be able to address any shortfall.
“It should make a difference,” he said during a press conference after launching the Market Place Fair @ Penang by Bursa Malaysia at Spice Convention Centre in Bayan Lepas.
Lim was responding to a question about claims by the petrol dealers association that they could lose between RM30mil and RM40mil due to the latest fuel price reduction.
Lim said he was not sure if that figure was accurate and it would be best for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to address the matter.
From Saturday, RON95 and RON97 have seen reductions of 27 sen from RM2.20 to RM1.93 per litre and from RM2.50 to RM2.23 per litre respectively.
Meanwhile, diesel has seen a reduction of 14 sen from RM2.18 to RM2.04 per litre.
The new prices will be in effect until Jan 11, after which the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM) will be implemented.
Under the APM, weekly fuel pric- es will be announced every Friday and will be in force the following day until the next Friday.
Lim added this was the best winwin formula.
“We want consumers to benefit from the fall in oil prices, that is why we decided to adopt the weekly fixing of oil prices.
“Although we have changed it to the weekly fixing, we will cap it if it increases.
“So it is a win-win situation. If it goes higher than the capped price, it will be subsidised by the government,” he said.