Petrol hike 'can happen anytime', says Minister

Budget 2014 touched briefly on rationalising subsidies to strengthen the economy, but many are left wondering if there will be a petrol hike anytime soon.

While RAM Holdings Group Chief Economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng expects at least “two to three” more petrol hikes in the near future, this could not be confirmed by a minister Astro AWANI spoke to.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that while it was ‘inevitable’ that petrol prices would go up when subsidies are cut, he stressed that there are no plans to do so at the moment.

“No, there would not be a hike at the moment, but this is something that can happen anytime,” said Abdul Rahman.

He added that the good news with the announcement on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is that the Government will be able to hold off cutting petrol subsidies longer.

In September, the Government had increased the price for RON95 and diesel by 20 sen per litre.

Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) had said that the public can expect further increases in the price of RON95 petrol in the near future as part of the government's efforts to lower the country's burgeoning fuel subsidies.

The move would also help efforts to eradicate petrol smuggling to neighbouring countries, said the PDAM president Datuk Hashim Othman.