The federal government is currently studying the implementation of a diesel subsidy using a mechanism just like that for Budi Madani RON 95 (Budi95) scheme for petrol, said communications minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, reiterating the outline that was indicated in April.
He said the matter was considered one of foremost focal points being deliberated by the cupboard amid ongoing discussions on targeted fuel subsidies, as The Star reports. “Right away, the federal government is examining issues related to diesel, including implementing diesel subsidies using a system just like Budi95,” he said following a cupboard meeting earlier today.
In response to questions posed by reporters on whether the federal government was considering reducing the Budi95 quota following the present international situation, he said the matter was not discussed through the cabinet meeting, saying that the present focus was on aligning diesel subsidy distribution with the Budi95 mechanism.
On the concerns raised following remarks by deputy finance minister Liew Chin Tong suggesting the Budi95 quota could possibly be reduced, Fahmi said the problem stemmed from a misunderstanding of Liew’s statement. “I understand that the statement was either retracted or the unique report with the wrong headline was withdrawn by the media company involved. The deputy finance minister has since issued a clarification on what he meant,” he said.
“I watched the video recording of his speech and it was quite clear that he was referring to studies by the finance ministry examining different quota levels (300 litres, 200 litres, 150 litres and 100 litres), and what number of Malaysians would profit at each level. When those study levels were mentioned, they were misunderstood,” he added.
Asked by reporters on whether the federal government planned to redefine existing income categories comparable to T20 and M40, Fahmi said the problem didn’t arise through the meeting, because it falls under the purview of the economy ministry and the department of statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
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This Article First Appeared At paultan.org
