KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The government is currently reviewing RON95 assistance for upper income earners, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today, amid growing calls for petrol subsidies to be reserved for the lower- and middle-income groups.

But any recalibration of petrol aid would possibly avoid touching upper middle-income earners too, Anwar suggested.

“The study had been undertaken by the National Economic Action Council led by Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican’s team but it’s not decided if it would be T20 or 15,” Anwar told reporters briefly after attending a government programme at Universiti Malaya here.

“But we want to make sure the right income brackets aren’t affected — for example, the upper- middle-income group. It must also be easily implemented,” he added.

Anwar said the government has “agreed in principle” to the proposal to exclude or partially assist top income earners from getting subsidised petrol.

The government’s fuel subsidies for April alone were estimated to have cost RM7 billion — a 100 per cent increase from March — as US-Israeli aggression on Iran rocked global oil and gas supplies, pushing prices up. 

Putrajaya’s heavy petrol subsidies have fuelled calls for the assistance to be reviewed, with several economists urging that top income earners to be either excluded or receive just partial aid.

Malaysia’s retail petrol price is one of the lowest in the world, at just RM1.99 per litre or roughly US$0.50 cents.

The low price has turned Malaysia into one of the most motorised nations globally.