Is Malaysia’s steep diesel price hike something beyond control, reflects Madani’s policy weakness?

 

APPARENTLY Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has taken a jab at certain quarters whom he accused of politicising the spike in global oil prices stemming from the Iranian war which in his contention is beyond control of the Madani government.

“There are those who take advantage of this situation when the economy is declining and oil supply is disrupted,” he lamented at a Ramadan programme with Permatang Pauh community leaders at the Permatang Pasir Community Hall in mainland Penang (March 20) yesterday.

“It is not our fault, yet there are still some opposition members who hurl abuses at us in the current situation.”

This was when former Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication deputy director Datuk Eric See-To pointed to what he described as “embarrassing and worrying trend” of Kuala Lumpur’s free-float diesel prices being the highest compared to other regional cities between mid-January and March 20 this year.

“Kuala Lumpur saw a rise from RM2.84/litre to RM4.72/litre which is a jump of around 66.2%,” penned the opposition-slant Madani critic on his Facebook page.

“To make matters worse, Malaysia is the only clean energy producer on this list (in reference to his infographic). We’ve our own oil, gas and energy products. But strangely, Malaysians have had to bear the brunt of the diesel price hike.

“Hong Kong rose slightly. Singapore rose moderately. Beijing rose in a controlled manner while Bangkok’s pump price is now cheaper than Malaysia if converted to ringgit.

In fact, Thailand and China are now cheaper than Malaysia in terms of diesel prices for the first time in history. That is an indication that our approach is too abrupt and disproportionate.

‘Moderate rise is stages’

In See-To’s contention, the problem is not whether subsidies should be rationalised or not but “the speed and manner of (policy) implementation”.

“I wonder what the Madani government was thinking that allowed diesel prices to skyrocket so quickly from RM2.84/litre to RM4.72/ litre in such a short time span as if nothing happened,” jibed the deemed loyalist of disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“When diesel prices are raised too abruptly, the inflationary effects spread throughout the economy with a rise in the costs of construction, mining, food, businesses and service costs (which will ultimately be passed down to consumers). In the end, the rakyat are the ones bound to suffer.”

Offering a solution, See-To who used to blog with the moniker Lim Sian See reckoned that the Madani government should have taken a more moderate and gradual approach like Thailand and China “which still use subsidies or control mechanisms to slow down price shocks to the economy”.

“That is more realistic, more responsible and reflects an understanding of how inflation works in the real world,” he observed.

“While other countries are careful to manage the impact of energy prices, Malaysia is pushing the oil price all the way up. As a result, not only are we losing our cost advantage, both the rakyat and business at large are burdened at the same time.” –  Focus Malaysia