The government has decided to not proceed with the targeted fuel subsidy programme (PSP) that was first mooted by the previous Pakatan Harapan government back in 2018, reports Malay Mail.
Announced in the parliamentary hearing today, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Deputy Minister Rosol Wahid said that the decision was made together with the Ministry of Finance after considering the price difference of fuel between the peninsula and East Malaysia, among other factors.
“The decision was made on July 9 in a meeting between the ministry and the Finance Ministry due to several reasons,” Rosol told the Parliament today. The matter will now be brought forward to the Cabinet for a final decision, according to Rosol.
The PSP, first announced in November 2018 and then later updated for the 2020 Malaysia budget, was set to benefit nearly eight million Malaysians from the B40 and M40 group, with RM2.2 Billion allocated for the programme in the national budget.
As part of the targeted fuel subsidy programme, fuel prices will also be floated in peninsular Malaysia according to the world market crude oil prices, while Sarawak, Sabah, and Labuan will see fuel prices capped at the current levels. However, the execution of the programme, originally scheduled to begin on January 1 this year, was delayed indefinitely.
Rosol added that the government would take an alternative approach to helping the people where subsidies are concerned.
