KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the implementation of targeted subsidies is carried out to save the country, despite being an unpopular decision.
The decision was necessary to stabilise the economy, he said at the Prime Minister’s Department’s monthly assembly this morning.
“Who wants to implement targeted subsidies? We must know that whatever we do, we will be attacked with all sorts of lies and slander.
“Those who wear ‘songkoks’, robes, and turbans continue to lie… but we have told them that all prime ministers before this had agreed to implement targeted subsidies, but none of them had the political will to do so,” he said.
“This is done to save the country; we have no choice,” he said.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan announced that diesel prices will be floated and will retail at RM3.35 per litre in the peninsula starting today.
He said the price is based on the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM) formula for the month of May.
The previous price of diesel announced on June 5 was RM2.15 per litre, which will be maintained for Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
When announcing the fuel subsidy rationalisation on May 21, Anwar said subsidies for diesel would be withdrawn for “the rich and foreigners.”
The diesel subsidy will first be rationalised in the peninsula and will only be implemented in Sabah and Sarawak later, which will save the nation RM4 billion annually, he said.
To prevent any drastic increase in the cost of goods and services, subsidies would be continued for traders using diesel-powered commercial vehicles and for public transportation, he assured.
10 types of public transportation vehicles, including buses and taxis, as well as 23 goods transport vehicles, will come under the subsidised diesel control system.
Diesel subsidies will also continue for certain categories of fishermen. – June 10, 2024