KUALA LUMPUR: The government is still bearing the cost of diesel subsidies for eligible sectors, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
In a Yang Bakar Menteri (YBM) podcast, he said that even though the price of diesel has been floated, there are sectors still given high subsidies such as the fishery, public transport and logistics sectors.
"Now (diesel) is not floated 100 per cent, it only involves private users. And the government is still spending (money) because we have not removed the subsidy, we have only targeted it," he said in response to a question on the retail price of diesel by a person who goes by the name of Lim Sian See on his Facebook page but whose real name is Datuk Eric See-To. He was part of the Barisan Nasional strategic communications team during the administration of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Ministry of Finance previously stated that the implementation of targeted diesel subsidy involves setting the retail price of diesel according to the market price. On June 10, 2024, the government set the retail price of diesel fuel at RM3.35 per litre at petrol stations throughout Peninsular Malaysia while in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan the price was maintained at RM2.15. The price has varied since then according to market forces.
Commenting further, Rafizi said the excess money from the difference in diesel prices with the current price is used to pay for subsidy payments that are still given mainly to public transport and other designated sectors, including the distribution of BUDI MADANI cash assistance. "Therefore, there is a difference in terms of the weekly price, sometimes it will be more and sometimes less, so the net effect of higher or lower price is the government's expenditure in the form of diesel subsidy," he said. – BERNAMA