Petrol price is hiking up 78 cents to RM2.70 per litre by Wednesday midnight, while the diesel is going up RM1 to RM2.58. Seems like it’s worth being kiasu after all.
With the continous record breaking rise of crude oil price, our price hike seems inevitable. It’s a logical decision for the government to cut the subsidy… the only question that always puzzle me is how they are going to spend the extra money saved from the reduced subsidy.
So far I haven’t heard anything to improve our public transportation system, or to find alternative ways to reduce petrol consumptions in the country… nobody really knows where the money saved from the previous price hike had been used.
The government is supposed to announce some measurements along with the price hike today… will have to read the papers later tonight to see what is happening.
On the other hand, 78 cents hike should be a shocker for most Malaysians… it’s by far the biggest margin we have ever had. The extra fuel cost doesn’t concern me much; what worries me is if the government could control the side effect of the fuel hike… as other products and services would be calling for price hike as well.
Update – shoot, electricity rates going up as well, 18% for homes and 26% for business users from July onwards. This increment could cause more damage than the fuel hike actually; we can try to save on fuel… but we don’t have much option with electricity.
The government also announced a new rebate system for vehicles of different classes as well as a reduction on road tax [details at Bernama and Thestar] which actually opens more rooms for debates of unfairness…
Since that I am working from home, I need to drive less often… but hey, I am getting the same rebate for my car like other car owners. Also, I have a motorbike at home that I rarely used, but heck… I am going to get RM150 rebate regardless; how odd is that?
The rebate is probably aimed to curb the foreign vehicles issue, but the government could be overlooking it by creating more confusions and controversies domestically.
[Official media statement from the PMO about the subsidy restructuring]
Update June 11 – The government has announced that the prices of petrol and diesel will not be raised any more in 2008 even if the global oil price reaches US$200 a barrel. [Bernama]