According to reports, the price of RON 95 and RON 97 petrol at the pump is expected to be lowered at the end of the year. Deputy finance minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the new prices are due to be announced on Dec 31.
In an earlier report, Maslan had indicated that prices of petrol and diesel fuels may continue to drop until January. Average weekly global oil prices had been dropping up to the first week of December. "According to the trend this week, RON 95 will fall further, RON 97 will fall further, and diesel may fall further from RM2.23 per litre at present," he had then said.
Since fuel subsidies were discontinued at beginning of December, prices are now based on a managed float system, which will be reviewed monthly. Current retail pricing for RON 95 is RM2.26 per litre (down four sen from previously), while RON 96 is priced at RM2.46 per litre (down nine sen). Diesel, meanwhile, is priced at RM2.23 per litre (up three sen).
The government also announced that a simplified version of the formula used to calculate the price of RON 95 petrol and diesel would be made public soon, so the rakyat would know how fuel prices are derived.
Meanwhile, Maslan said he hoped traders would reduce prices of daily essentials in line with the drop in the price of petrol. He said that there had been no adjustments despite the lowering of fuel prices.
"The problem is, while fuel prices have been reduced, manufacturers and traders still maintain their old prices or raise their prices, even as they are able to offer lower prices with their business costs having come down," he told reporters at an event yesterday.
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