There is yet to be a policy paper on the implementation of the subsidy rationalisation of RON 95 petrol, prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, reported the New Straits Times.

While there have been previous studies on subsidy rationalisation for RON 95 petrol, the government now intends to evaluate the returns of of rationalising subsidies on diesel, as well as others such as electricity and chicken.

“We will look at its impacts first, and the people’s reaction, then we can discuss to see if there is a need (to rationalise RON95 subsidy).What’s important is that we must stop giving subsidies to the very rich and foreigners. I will not compromise on that,” the prime minister said during a Dewan Rakyat session.

The prime minister also said that he did not discount the possibility of the government implementing more targeted subsidy rationalisation in the future. “If you ask me, subsidy rationalisation on RON 95 should have been implemented a long time ago, but it is not easy. Any government when in power agreed that there was a need to implement subsidy rationalisation, but did not have the will to do so, for fear of political repercussions,” he said.

Earlier this week, economy minister Rafizi Ramli implied that there could be very little indication of the time frame for the introduction of removing blanket subsidies for RON 95 petrol, saying that the government will be replicating the same strategy for RON 95 petrol as it has for diesel.

“We did surprise everyone with diesel, and I think everyone is up for another surprise,” he told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s summer gathering in China. The economy minister reiterated that the government remains committed to its diesel subsidy rationalisation programme for now.

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