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Saturday May 1, 2004

Petrol, diesel prices up by two sen per litre from May 1

KOTA KINABALU: Vehicle owners will have to pay more for petrol and diesel with retail prices going up by two sen per litre across the country from today.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices would also be increased by two sen per kilo, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal said here yesterday.

Under the new price structure, the price of RON (Research Octane Number) 97 petrol in peninsular Malaysia will now be RM1.37 per litre while RON 92 petrol will cost RM1.33 per litre, diesel 78.1 sen per litre and LPG RM1.35 per kilo.

Motorists in Sabah will have to pay RM 1.35 per litre for RON 97, RM1.33 per litre for RON 92, 78.4 sen per litre for diesel and RM1.43 per kilo for LPG.

Motorists queue up to fill their tanks in a station in Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Over in Sarawak, RON 97 will now cost RM1.36 per litre, RON 92 RM1.33 per litre, diesel 77.8 sen per litre and LPG RM1.43 per kilo.

Mohd Shafie said prices had been raised because of the increase in the world crude oil price, which had recently jumped from US$24.77 (RM94.13) to US$33.23 (RM126.27) per barrel.

He said was confident that traders would not take advantage of the price increases to inflate the prices of their goods and services.

Despite the price hike, he added, petroleum products in Malaysia were still cheaper than those in neighbouring countries, including Thailand and the Philippines.

He said the Government would still be forking out more than RM800mil in subsidies and tax exemptions for petroleum products for this month alone.

Mohd Shafie said it was also likely that the Government would incur revenue losses because of the higher prices.

Citing an example, he said the Government’s revenue from diesel tax for this month was estimated at RM166.9mil compared with RM180.8mil last month.

In Kepala Batas, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the increase in prices was justified, adding that the Cabinet had deliberated the matter at length.

“We find the slight increase in fuel prices is justified because fuel is heavily subsidised in Malaysia.

“We hope the people will not be burdened by this,” he said after opening the Permatang Sintok mosque yesterday.

Prices for petrol, diesel and LPG were last increased on March 1 last year, also going up two sen per litre and per kilo respectively.

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