Any adjustment of RON 95 petrol subsidies will be a last resort due to its direct impact on household spending, according to prime minister’s office senior economic and finance adviser Nurhisham Hussein, reported New Straits Times.
The government currently has several policy options available, but it is proceeding cautiously given the sensitivity around fuel prices and cost-of-living pressures, Nurhisham said on the Keluar Sekejap podcast hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan.
Among the policy options available to the government is to increase the price of subsidised RON 95 petrol from the present RM1.99 per litre, or further reducing the monthly quota for the fuel at the subsidised rate, which was “a last option”, Nurhisham said.
“Petrol is a very sensitive issue and it has a direct impact on the rakyat’s pockets.Even if there is a petrol subsidy adjustment, it will be pushed back later,” he said on the podcast. While fuel prices had eased for now – this week’s fuel price update saw diesel drop by 10 sen and RON 95 petrol drop by 15 sen – the outlook for the global oil market remained uncertain, especially for the third quarter of the year, the adviser said.
The temporary calming of markets was attributed to reduced fuel imports by China for the time being, and the increased output by major oil-producing countries, however ” at some point you cannot rely on reserves forever. China will start importing again and countries will also need to rebuild strategic reserves,” he said.
Nurhisham warned that analysts were already expecting July and August to become “very uncomfortable” periods for oil markets due to renewed demand and ongoing supply shortages, saying that “the market is too optimistic” at this point and there was no guarantee fuel prices would remain stable between July and September.
In terms of fuel consumption trends, government data showed that usage had increased slightly even after flexible work arrangements were introduced in the public sector. “We are still trying to figure out why. People may save during the work week but travel more during weekends or long holidays,” Nurhisham said.
Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing towards tightening the subsidised diesel control system (SKDS) particularly for the logistics sector, as the government had previously allocated excessive diesel subsidies under the programme, said Nurhisham. “We gave too much when we started SKDS. Now we are tightening it to create savings because we now have enough data to understand better,” he said.
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Well once it goes up don’t bring it down, this is your chance to end the subsidy drug addiction, do away with the subsidy. People need to curb their joyrides and needless wastage of fuel. Vehicles that are way old to be fit for the roads need to be totally written off, those are highest fuel consumers and there are a lot of those junk out on the roads. High fuel prices will force those low-lifes to finally get rid of those dastardly trash cans on wheels.
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Sokong subsidized fuel
to 120L per month
Fuuuhhh hundred of dislike. Must be the drunk driver protector.
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Limit amount of vehicle entering city centre such as kl, putrajaya or other major city with good public transport facilities. By that the amount of vehicle on the road reduces and less traffic jam. That by two means reduces fuel consumption
Also stop organising kapcai konvoi by political parties that only promote irresponsible petrol wastefulness.
Doesn’t work if the fuel prices remain subsidized. Public transport is unpalatable as it is during peak hours due to armpit smells from blue color workers sharing the ride. LRT MRT Komuter are not the only public transports, the bas services form the bulk of the connections for most using public transportation. Public transport is not that cheap vs driving in comfort in private kereta. The incentive to use public transport comes from price alone, let’s be real, you can have plenty of bas and trens added but people simply will go comfort if the price gulf isn’t huge.
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In terms of fuel consumption trends, government data showed that usage had increased slightly even after flexible work arrangements were introduced in the public sector. “We are still trying to figure out why. People may save during the work week but travel more during weekends or long holidays,” Nurhisham said.
yaya, please allocate fund to form an independent workforce to do multiple researches on this issue, as we lowly citizens already known the answer to the issue is to push ev adoption kau kau.
Probably a psychological phenomenon of trying to maximize your subsidy allocation within the month, where in some cases people will increase fill their tanks full at the end of the month because they are worried their allocation will not be enough the next month.
Why issue this statement ?Isnt this premature.?
After cabinet meet finalised decision,then only announce,lah.
Just STFU.