Prices of petrol

I led a Pakatan protest this morning in the Seremban market to pressure the government to further reduce the prices of petrol and electricity tariff to ease the burden of the rakyat. Besides DAP MPs and State Assemblymen, a few state PAS and PKR leaders were also there.

No government in the world can ignore the global economic crisis hitting the US and Europe currently. Being a trading nation, Malaysia will surely be affected and it is just a matter of degree. I was asked by the moderator of Sudut Pandang 2 nights ago what is the single most important thing the government should do in the current situation. My answer is to reduce the prices of petrol.

By reducing the prices of petrol, it can help to check on the rising inflation and ease the monthly burden of consumers. The savings from a cheaper bill for fuel means more disposable income to spend on other items. More money will be circulated in the market and that will keep domestic consumption going. Simple economics.

I argue that we are paying above market price for petrol currently. When the government announced the hike of petrol prices to RM2.70 per litter, the market price was around USD130 per barrel and the government said it was RM3.00 per litter. The government continued to subsidize 30 cents per litter to consumers and promised that the price will be revised according to market fluctuations minus 30 cents subsidy.

With the current market price of around USD70 per barrel,isn't the price per litter is less than RM2? If the government keeps its promise to subsidize 30 cents, then the pump price should be RM1.70 the most. We are paying for RM2.30 per litter now. By reducing 10-15 cents each time, it is not going to give a huge impact to reduce inflation. Therefore, we call on the government to reduce 50 cents per litter one shot by next week. I dare to say that no one will oppose it except some petrol kiosk owners.

The tariff for electricity is another issue. TNB raised the tariff with the reason of higher fuel costs. Now the prices of fuel have come down, then why is it the tariff cannot be reduced? TNB said it will not. Where is the government? As TNB is the sole power supplier in the Peninsular and regulated and partly owned by the government, the government should immediately order TNB to revise the tariff on the downside.


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