KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Petrol retail prices will remain unchanged in the first week of January to allow the Cabinet to address the grouses of the Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) over the managed float system.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, in a statement today, said the Cabinet will meet on Wednesday to discuss the concerns raised by the association on the reintroduction of the weekly petrol price mechanism, which was to start this month.
He said the implementation of the weekly petrol price mechanism was to enable motorists to enjoy any price changes faster in line with the fall in world petroleum prices.
“However, taking into account the views of all parties concerned, the government will review the requests of the Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM), who are against the weekly retail price of petroleum products.
“PDAM has also requested that the Petroleum Station Operator Margin be reviewed, which is one of the components under the Automatic Pricing Mechanism formula (APM), that is currently being used to set the retail price of petroleum products.
“In line with that, the consideration and consent of the Cabinet, which will meet on January 2, 2019, and chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will be obtained, with regards to PDAM’s request, and to ensure the setting of the most optimum retail price for petroleum products,” Lim added.
Lim added that Dr Mahathir would also be meeting PDAM members soon.
He said therefore, the retail prices of RON97, RON95 and diesel petrol will be maintained for a few days at RM2.50 per litre, RM2.20 per litre and RM2.18 per litre respectively.
“The latest retail prices of the petroleum products will be made before the end of the first week of January 2019,” Lim said.
In order to protect consumers when world retail prices for petroleum products rises, Lim said that the government would maintain the price at not more than RM2.20 per litre and RM2.18 per litre for RON95 and diesel respectively, through subsidies.
“Price retention at this level will be maintained until the implementation of targeted RON95 petrol subsidies mid-2019, before retail prices of petroleum products are floated at market prices,” he added.
Two days ago, PDAM said raising the members’ sales commission for fuels would be the best move to ensure the welfare of the petrol kiosk dealers and consumers, as the last review of the commission was done in 2008.
Its president Datuk Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz said the association is seeking a standardised commission of 15 sen per litre for petrol and diesel as it is currently 12 sen for petrol and seven for diesel.
He also said a petition signed by the dealers would be sent to Dr Mahathir seeking a monthly fuel price float and their commission demands.
