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Petrol prices up 5 sen
BY SUSAN TAM

PETALING JAYA: The prices of petrol and diesel will be increased by 5 sen per litre and gas by 5 sen per kg from Friday as a result of record world oil prices, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry announced here. In a statement yesterday, the ministry said with the increase, the new price of RON97 is RM1.42 per litre for the peninsula, RM1.40 for Sabah and RM1.41 for Sarawak. The price of RON92 is RM1.38 per litre for the whole country, while the new diesel prices are 83.1 sen for the peninsula, 83.4 sen for Sabah and 82.8 sen for Sarawak. As for LPG, it is RM1.40 per litre in the peninsula, RM1.48 per litre in Sabah and Sarawak.

Although crude oil prices are hovering near the US$50 per barrel level, the ministry said the increases were still low compared with if the prices were to be based on the automatic pricing mechanism (APM), by which retail prices of petroleum products are determined after taking into consideration the cost, commission and profit of petroleum dealers and oil companies. Under the APM, the retail price of RON97 would be RM2.3484 per litre for the peninsula, RM2.3572 for Sabah and RM2.3302 for Sarawak. The ministry said that with the subsidised prices, the Government would forego revenue loss of RM695mil while paying subsidies of RM610.3mil to ensure that fuel prices in the country would remain low. From January to this month, uncollected taxes from petroleum products amounted to RM6.631bil while the subsidies amounted to RM6.74bil.

In comparison, the price of petroleum in neighbouring Singapore for RON97 was RM3.28 per litre on Sept 1 and RM5.75 in Hong Kong. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdulah Ahmad Badawi had stated earlier this year that the Government could not continue to give high subsidies for fuel but gave assurances that any increase would be gradual. The rise in petrol prices will be the second time this year after a two-sen increase to RM1.37 in May. The Government has increased the price of petrol six times since 2000. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal warned traders not to take advantage of this “slight increase” to raise prices of goods and services. He said he had instructed all his officers to carry out the necessary checks on consumer goods.

Petrol prices up 5 sen
BY ISAAC YAP

CRAP!