Fuel hike is ‘minimal’, stay positive for Budget, says minister

The fuel hike announced yesterday caused a rush to fill up tanks resulting in long queues and congestion around many petrol stations – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, October 2, 2014.The fuel price hike of 20 sen per litre is "minimal" and "not a burden", Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek said, in defending Putrajaya's move to raise prices a year after the last increase and in the run-up to presenting the national budget next week.

He said people should "stay positive" and wait for Budget 2015 when it is tabled in Parliament next week to see what incentives Putrajaya would provide to lighten their burden.

“If we do a calculation, the increment is minimal. If there is going to be an impact (on inflation), it will be minimal,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

“So we ask that the people stay patient and see the hike positively. Besides that, wait for the Budget to be tabled because the prime minister will announce several measures to reduce the rakyat’s burden," Hasan told reporters after launching the Malaysian Intellectual Property Award today.

He said Malaysians should be patient and view the hike positively as it will be offset by the budget, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will table next week.

Some of these measures are an increase in the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) handouts, school aid, housing subsidies and tax incentives.

He said the government had taken into account the people’s sufferings when it decided to raise the RON95 and diesel price by 20 sen starting today, Bernama reported him as saying.

However, Hasan was unable to confirm that Putrajaya would cease to slash petrol subsidies in the future, saying that it depended on the economy.

He also refused to reveal whether or not petrol and diesel would also come under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which would be carried out next April.

“We want to reduce leakages and smuggling by irresponsible quarters. It is not our intention to burden the rakyat, on the contrary we want to strengthen the country’s finances so that by 2020, we are able to reduce the country’s deficit to zero,” said Hasan.

He added that the subsidy slashes would allow the government to save more and channel the funds to programmes and infrastructure that would benefit the people.

Yesterday evening, the Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Cooperatives Ministry announced motorists will have to pay 20 sen more per litre of RON95 petrol and diesel from today.

RON95 will now cost RM2.30 per litre, up from RM2.10, while diesel will be RM2.20, an increase from RM2 previously.

The last time Putrajaya slashed fuel subsidies was on September 2 last year. Economists have hailed the subsidy cuts as the right move to address government debt.

- TMI