Fahmi: Refining needed to prevent public burden
KUALA LUMPUR: The plan to implement targeted subsidies for RON95 petrol has been delayed due to the need for a more detailed review of the mechanism, says Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
He said the government is currently fine-tuning every aspect of the policy to ensure that its implementation will not have an adverse impact on the public.
Fahmi said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also addressed the matter during the recent government retreat involving MPs.
'The Prime Minister expressed his view that he does not want the implementation of any policy to negatively affect the majority of the rakyat.
'It is this fine-tuning process that has resulted in a slight shift in the timeline,' he told a weekly press conference at Parliament House yesterday.
Fahmi, who is also the government spokesman, said several adjustments had already been made to earlier policies to avoid burdening the people.
'That is one of the reasons why, following the implementation of measures such as the diesel subsidy rationalisation and other efforts, we found it necessary to re-examine the subsidy delivery mechanism.
'In the same spirit of minimising impact, even the expansion of the Sales and Service Tax underwent further refinements after it was announced.
'The same approach applies to policies that have yet to be implemented but were previously indicated including the targeted subsidy for RON95,' he added.
The rationalisation of the RON95 subsidy was initially expected to be introduced by the middle of this year.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the government was in the final stages of preparing for its implementation.
The move is part of broader fiscal reforms aimed at curbing leakages and ensuring high-income groups contribute more fairly to national revenue.
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