Gov't denies second fuel price hike in the offing

The government has denied that there will be a second fuel price hike in a month for the RON95 petrol, contrary to rumours that it would go up by another 10 sen beginning tomorrow.

Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan (left) clarified on hisTwitter account that there will be no increase in fuel prices tonight.

“I would like to deny that there is a subsidy reduction for RON95 by 10 sen. Due to that, subsidised RON95 is still RM2.10 a litre. Real price is RM2.73,” he posted.

Ahmad’s clarification was in response to rumours that have been going around since yesterday that the government would increase RON95's price by another 10 sen.

It was only earlier this month that the government announced a subsidy cut that caused RON 95's price to go up by 20 sen a litre. The price of diesel, which is also subsidised, had also gone up.

The government had argued for the need to have a more targeted subsidy that would benefit the intended lower-income groups.

While the government argues that the fuel prices in Malaysia remains among the lowest in the region, the opposition is insistent that the fuel price, on the contrary, can be subsidised even further if the government can plug corruption and leakage issues.