Government needs more time to study & review fuel prices

The review on fuel prices will require more time to study and research as stated by Malaysia's economy minister, Rafizi Ramli.

One of Malaysia's all-time favourite questions to ask is currently being researched regarding any and all possibilities of lowering the retail prices for fuel following the country's 15th general election.

Current global crude oil prices going down

According to Rafizi Ramli's statement posted by NST, the newly-formed government is considering many factors when it comes to the fuel price reviews such as the country's latest financial capabilities, economic activity allocations, and everything else in between.

Rafizi stated that "This is beyond the issue on the formula, but more importantly is the current economic situation. The question is, the current global crude oil price is hovering between US$83 to US$85 per barrel and some were saying that the crude oil price has dropped over the past four and five months after breaching the US$100 per barrel price level."

"Hence, when the (global crude oil) price has dropped, is it enough for us to lower down the retail fuel price? Of course, for those who understand the oil and gas sector he will be asking the question," added Rafizi.

Current fuel price formula is still relevant

The PKR deputy president also mentioned that the current formula for fuel prices that was introduced by the government several years ago is still relevant to be maintained in today's scenario. Nevertheless, there will still look into the matter based on the country's current financial capabilities.

"We need to take a look on the actual government revenue now and if we review the current RM2.05 per litre price (for petrol), how much additional allocation we need to inject? All these require us more time to study each and every aspect, because when we joined any new organisation or administration either in the government or a company, we don't just step in and remove everything."

As of today, our fuel prices are still lower compared to Indonesia and Vietnam. In fact, Malaysia has to most affordable petrol (RON 95) compared to the other nine countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The estimated subsidy of RM28 billion for 2022 surely helped a lot in this particular matter.