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Ministries discussing petrol subsidy mechanism
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The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and the Finance Ministry are discussing a new mechanism for subsidised petrol with various target groups.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the discussion would also take into consideration the financial implications to the government apart from ensuring the system of subsidy is efficiently implemented.

“Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and I hope to formulate a mechanism after looking at various aspects including groups eligible to enjoy the subsidy.

“Aspects on the eligibility of groups included income level or the type of vehicles and so on will be taken into consideration,” he told reporters after a meeting with consumer non-governmental organisations in Putrajaya today.

Apart from targeting the lowest income group (B40), he said the ministry also looked at the effects of the implementation of the new mechanism on the middle income group (M40).

“I also want to see the people debating the idea (mechanism), so I hope such debates would be held as indicators to the government to make the decision,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, Saifuddin Nasution said Malaysians used about 1.2 billion litres of petrol a month with 90 percent using RON95 petrol which is subsidised with 10 percent more using RON97.

He said among the proposals included not giving subsidised petrol to the highest income group (T20) and M40 using luxury cars. “For example, those driving Mercedes, BMW or cars with 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0. cc.

“We will give subsidy to the B40 and also Malaysians driving small cars,” he said.

Saifuddin Nasution said the ministry also discussed with petrol companies and petrol station operators to ensure the existing system used is suitable for the mechanism.

“This is because not all petrol stations have full service standard especially in the interior where most of them are mini petrol stations,” he said.

Earlier, Deputy Finance Minister Amiruddin Hamzah was reported as saying the government was expected to announce a new petroleum subsidy mechanism at the latest by early next year.

In another development, Saifuddin Nasution said the ministry was considering raising the limit of claims at the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia (TTPM) from RM25,000 to RM50,000.

He said the move was taken as the cost of goods and services had risen.

Since it was established on Nov 15, 1999, up to September this year, he said there were 100,533 TTPM cases involving losses valued at more than RM152 million.

- Bernama

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