The government is standing firm on the 300-litre monthly limit for the BUDI95 petrol subsidy rationalisation programme, which was implemented almost a month ago. Even with netizens questioning whether the quota is enough, Treasury Secretary-General Johan Mahmood Merican stated that, based on official data, 95% of Malaysians use no more than 180 litres per month, Free Malaysia Today reported.
The policy allows eligible Malaysians to purchase up to 300 litres of subsidised RON95 petrol at RM1.99 per litre, a limit the government believes is more than sufficient. This view is backed by the Department of Statistics (DOSM) data, which confirms over 99% of privately owned vehicles do not exceed 300 litres of fuel usage per month.
Addressing calls for an increase in the monthly quota, Johan stated that raising the quota limit would open the door for increased leakage and smuggling activities.
He highlighted that the demographic completely utilising the 300-litre subsidised limit are those in states near the border, including over 80 individuals holding only motorcycle licenses.
“This indicates that they are using their motorcycles for more than 500 km every day within the first two weeks of October,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama.
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Johan reinforced the sufficiency of the quota by noting that the national average usage is much lower. He added, “In reality, individual Malaysians only use an average of about 80 litres per month. So far, the data we have obtained shows that [the quota] is sufficient, but we will continue to monitor the situation.”
Meanwhile, Johan stated that the government plans to channel an estimated fiscal saving of RM2.5 billion, generated from the rationalisation of the RON95 petrol subsidy through the BUDI95 programme, toward development expenditures and welfare initiatives.
If you’re still not convinced that 300 litres of subsidised RON95 petrol is enough, we’ve crunched the numbers. To show just how far that quota can go, we curated a list of popular vehicles to calculate the total distance you can travel on 300 litres of fuel, which you can read here.
