Gov’t cancels the B40/M40 petrol subsidy programme

The petrol subsidy programme (PSP), which was supposed to have begun this January but was deferred to a later date, will not see the light of day, the Malay Mail reports. According to domestic trade and consumer affairs (KPDHNEP) deputy minister Datuk Rosol Wahid, the government says it will not be implementing the targeted fuel subsidy scheme for RON 95 petrol.

Speaking in Parliament, Rosol said the government decided on this after considering the price difference of fuel between the peninsular and East Malaysia, among other factors. “The decision was made on July 9 in a meeting between the ministry and the finance ministry due to several reasons,” he said.

The programme was announced last year by the previous Pakatan Harapan government. The scheme, revealed during the tabling of Budget 2019 by ex-finance minister Lim Guan Eng, was to see eligible B40 recipients – includes those who are entitled for cost of living aid (BSH) assistance – being given a fixed subsidy rate of RM30 a month for car owners, and RM12 for motorcycle owners.

The subsidy was scheduled to be disbursed once every four months, with car owners receiving RM120 and motorcycle owners receiving RM48 in each payment. The payment method was to see cash being directly credited into the recipient’s registered bank account. The first payment was originally scheduled to be made in April.

It was also planned that the existing price cap of RM2.08 per litre for RON 95 would be removed once the PSP came into effect, with the fuel then being floated as RON 97 is. The programme, which had a RM2.4 billion allocation, was meant to provide direct assistance to eight million individuals from the B40 and M40 household groups.

The post Gov’t cancels the B40/M40 petrol subsidy programme appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.



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