Electricity tariffs must rise, says Anwar

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today said that electricity tariffs must rise in the second half of this year.

He admitted that the move would be cumbersome or disadvantageous, adding that the government is prepared to listen to other views.

“The decision is, to me, something that needs to be done. The prices have to rise,” he told attendees at a Chinese New Year celebration at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Electricity prices in the peninsula will remain the same until July when the base tariff will rise by 14.2 percent.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad said in December that this was mainly caused by higher fuel costs.

However, in his speech, Anwar stressed that it would not be raised by 14 percent.

For context, the base tariff refers to the average tariff borne by all electricity users. The actual tariff imposed differs based on the type of user, and consumption trends.

The final bill is also affected by any surcharge or rebates under the Imbalance Cost Passthrough (ICPT) scheme, which depends on prevailing fuel prices.

No cumulative foreign worker levy

Meanwhile, Anwar also touched on the foreign worker levy, which extends Employees Provident Fund (EPF) coverage to non-Malaysian workers.

He denied claims that the levy would be cumulative, saying that it would remain at two percent.

“The initial proposal was 12 (percent) and the cabinet did consider the bill by the (EPF) chairperson.

“So we just kept it at two (percent) and it will stay for some time until things are much better,” he said.

When circumstances improve, the cabinet will increase it to four percent, he added.

When tabling Budget 2025 at the Dewan Rakyat in October, Anwar announced that the government is looking into getting migrant workers to contribute to the private sector retirement fund.

In his speech today, Anwar called on the private sector to contribute to developing Malaysia’s “centres of excellence”, referring to faculties and training within education and digital transformation.

He cited global superpowers like the US, Europe, and China, which in the past focused on developing these areas. - Mkini