Fuel prices up 30 sen (Not Again!)

Fuel prices up 30 sen
27-Feb-2006

The retail prices of petrol and diesel will be increased by 30 sen per litre while the retail price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 30 sen per kg effective Feb 28.

Bernama quoted a statement from the Prime Minister's Department on Feb 27 as saying the move to increase the prices was to counter the effects of the rising price of crude oil in the world market and the rising cost of subsidising petrol.

The government, however, gave an assurance that it will not be raising the prices of petroleum retail products anymore this year following this latest hike.

With the latest increase, the price of RON 97 petrol is 192 sen, RON 92 petrol is 188 sen, diesel is 158.1 sen and LPG is 175 sen per litre in peninsular Malaysia.

The new price of RON 97 petrol in Sabah is 190 sen and that in Sarawak is 191 sen.

The last time the prices were increased was on July 31, 2005 when petrol price was pushed up by 10 sen per litre, diesel price 20 sen per litre and LPG 5 sen per kg.

A total of RM7.41 billion in cost was borne by the government for subsidising while the tax exempted amounted to RM7.85 billion, it said.

The cost of subsidising and tax borne by the government for the January to February 2006 period amounted to RM1.19 billion and RM1.44 billion respectively.

However, the statement said the prices of petrol and diesel in Malaysia were still low compared with those in other Asean countries except Brunei.

Meanwhile, the government has also introduced the provision of subsidised diesel to 84% of vehicles that use diesel in the land transportation sector comprising operators of public transportation and consumer products services through the Fleetcard.

Through the Fleetcard, they can purchase subsidised diesel at petrol stations where the cost of fuel is 15 sen less than the stipulated price.

Source: http://www.theedgedaily.com

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