KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — The government will obtain further information and hold discussions with oil companies over claims that petrol station operators incurred losses during the transition to the enhanced fuel subsidy mechanism previously, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the government appreciated the cooperation extended by oil companies and petrol station operators in ensuring the successful implementation of the targeted RON95 petrol and diesel subsidy programme.
“With regard to the issue raised, I will ask the Second Finance Minister (Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan) to help obtain further details and also hold discussions with the oil companies.
“So far, they have given their full cooperation. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for us to implement the targeted RON95 petrol and diesel subsidies effectively. If there are any shortcomings that have been highlighted, insya-Allah, we can discuss them and work towards a good solution,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, was responding to a supplementary question from Howard Lee Chuan How (PH-Ipoh Timur), who raised the issue of petrol station operators allegedly incurring losses of between RM40,000 and RM50,000 during the transition in subsidised fuel prices.
Anwar said the government had previously refrained from rushing the implementation of diesel subsidy reforms as it needed to take into account the more complex situation in Sabah and Sarawak compared with Peninsular Malaysia.
He said higher diesel consumption, the distance factor in rural areas and the more limited number of petrol stations required careful consideration before any new policy was introduced.
In addition, the Prime Minister said improvements to the BUDI MADANI Diesel programme (BUDI Diesel) now allow owners of diesel-powered pickup trucks and jeeps to apply for an additional 100-litre subsidised quota, bringing their total monthly entitlement to 300 litres.
He said that as of yesterday, about 200,000 citizens had been approved for the additional quota.
