Fuel, diesel, gas and sugar prices up

Come midnight tonight, RON95 grade petrol and diesel will increase by RM0.05 per litre while sugar prices are up RM0.20 per kg.

Back to the wall, Prime Minister Najib Razak has been forced to further slash subsidies and hike the prices of consumer essentials as the slowing economy fails to respond to the financial stimuli he has prescribed since coming to power in early 2009.

"This is not unexpected. We have warned the public that more pain will be coming for the people and this is why we have fought so hard against the meaningless RM5 billion construction of a 100-stories tower. When money is scarce, are people more important or a huge tower which everyone knows will decades to rent out," PAS treasurer-general Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

On Friday, Najib's government announced a price increase in RON95 - the most commonly used grade of petrol. Diesel, liquified petroleum gas and sugar were also not spared.

Sugar prices will be raised by 20 sen per kg, while RON95 petrol, diesel and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) all go up by five sen. The new prices will be effective on Saturday.

Squeeze the elite, not the poor

The announcement was made by Pemandu, a special unit within the PM's department. Its chief Idris Jala had previously warned that Malaysia could face bankruptcy by 2019 if it did not cut subsidies soon - a fact that economic experts have agreed with.

However, they also warned it was unfair to unleash the negative consequences on the public as the majority of the government's financial woes were due to mismanagement by former premier Mahathir Mohamad. The 85-year old, who ruled Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, had undertaken huge national debt to upgrade infrastructure as well as spent on wasteful developments such as the Bakun Dam and the national Proton car project.

"It is true that the problems began with Mahathir and his white elephants. But Najib was also a Cabinet minister and he never objected. And now, when he is PM, he is also going the same way. Instead of tightening the belt on the elite and rich, he is pushing the pain over to the poor and those who really need these subsidies," a chief economist at a foreign bank told Malaysia Chronicle.

He was referring to the recent RM1.4 trillion Economic Transformation Program that Najib unveiled recently. The numbers were so huge they drew ridicule and immediate accusations that he was trying to bamboozle the public with "instant zeros" and hide the fact he had few real solutions to lift Malaysia out from the rut she has fallen into.

The breakdown of the new prices are as follows:

* RON 95 grade petrol - from RM1.85 to RM1.90 per litre


* Diesel - from RM1.75 to RM1.80 per litre


* White refined coarse granulated sugar - from RM1.90 to RM2.10 per kg


* Liquified petroluem gas - from RM1.85 to RM1.90 per kg