The prices of petrol and diesel are based on a monthly average, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin said today.
“Whatever price that we have announced, it is meant for last month. So we wait for next month,” he told reporters after an event held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur today.
However, at a separate event later, Hamzah said he was unaware when asked on claims by the opposition that there were “hidden taxes” in the sales of petrol and diesel.
“I don't know about that because the calculation is based (on a) one-month average which is for last month. So that's the announcement being made,” he said.
Asked whether the ministry will reveal its own calculations, Hamzah replied: “No, it is actually by the government so it doesn't matter whether it is from my ministry or the Finance Ministry.”
The minister also said that he was not aware that his predecessor, Hasan Malek, had said that the ministry would make public the mechanism for the managed float system for fuel.
Hasan, in December 2014, had said that the ministry, as well as the Ministry of Finance, were preparing information on the matter to reveal the mechanism used.
Based on the latest pump prices announced for this month, opposition lawmakers yesterday raised questions over purported “hidden taxes” imposed by the government.
Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said that if the market price was higher than the managed float price based on the set formula, the difference would be the amount of hidden tax imposed by the government on the people.
Rafizi then urged the ministry to publish its own detailed calculations from the time the managed float system was implemented in December 2014.
Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching also echoed Rafizi’s call for the government to come clean on the amount of hidden petrol tax that has been collected since the managed float system was implemented. - Mkini
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