Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced that the RON95 petrol subsidy rationalization programme will continue as planned, as he said that the vast majority of Malaysians won’t be affected.
According to The Star, “There is no issue of raising the price of petrol for the vast majority of up to 85% to 95% of our people. Will we do it? Yes, because subsidy rationalisation is critical for our nation. We want sufficient resources to help the poor, enhance education quality, and provide better public services, including health,” he said after the launch of Energy Asia 2025 on Monday (16-June).
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made this statement in wake of an almost 10% hike in global crude oil prices to about USD 75 (about RM 320) following the Israel-Iran conflict. Prior to the conflict, global crude oil prices were fluctuating and dropped below the USD 65 (about RM 280) per barrel.
“For now, I have discussed this with the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and leading players other than PETRONAS, Total, ENI, and Aramco. They are monitoring the situation very closely, but it does not necessarily adversely affect the industry and price mechanism. We hope that things can be resolved much earlier,” he added.
When will the RON95 petrol subsidy happen?
That being said, there has been no indication to as when will the government implement the RON95 petrol subsidy rationalization. Last month, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that it would come by the second half of the year.
At the time of writing, a litre of subsidised RON95 petrol is capped at RM 2.05. With the subsidy removed, consumers can expect to pay around RM 2.56/litre of RON95 – as shown by Double Petrol, a petrol station that sells unsubsidised petrol and diesel based in Perlis.