KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 ― From midnight tonight until February 15, the retail price per litre of RON97 is RM2.27, RON95 (RM1.97) and diesel (RM2.18), the Finance Ministry announced today.

RON97 and RON95 will go up by 4 sen per litre over the current prices, while diesel is unchanged as the price is capped by the government.

The ministry said in a statement that the price of refined petroleum products in the global market had risen from US$60 (RM244) to US$62 per barrel for RON95, and from US$72 to US$73 per barrel for diesel.

However, the ministry said the retail price of RON95 is still below the RM2.20 per litre cap by the government to protect consumers under the Automatic Price Mechanism (APM).

It added that though the price of diesel should be increased by 1 sen to RM2.19 per litre, the Federal government has stabilised its price at RM2.18 per litre for the coming week.

The APM was implemented on January 5, with RON97 retailing for RM2.23 a litre, RON95 (RM1.93) and diesel (RM2.04).

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had previously said the price caps were introduced to protect the B40 group but it will be lifted when the targeted fuel subsidy programme is introduced in the middle of this year.