Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX) announced today that the price of RON 95 petrol will be reduced to RM1.99 per litre from the current price of RM2.05 per litre.
In his special speech announcing several measures to ease the burden of the Rakyat, he said that the government’s RON 95 petrol target subsidy plan is still on track. The full details of the subsidy rationalisation will be announced by end-September 2025.
PMX also stressed that the majority of the Rakyat will be not be affected as the price of RON 95 will be reduced when the targeted subsidy plan begins.
“This will certainly benefit around 18 million car drivers and motorcyclists, including youth as young as 16 years old and gig workers. This targeted approach is in line with the government’s efforts to optimise national resources for the benefit of the people, and reduce subsidy waste,” he said in his speech.
Subsidy removal will instead affect the ultra rich and foreign citizens – them having to pay the market price for fuel.
He added that in 2023 and 2024, the government spent some RM20 billion a year on RON 95 subsidy alone. Although world oil prices have declined this year, the price of RON 95 petrol without subsidy is still around RM2.50 per litre.
The Prime Minister did not reveal any detail of how the scheme will be implemented. However, it is expected the mechanism involves using the Malaysian National Registration Indentity Card (MyKad) when filling up. In this case, it should be linked to the tax database to determine a person’s income level. Will there be facial matching of the person filling up with his MyKad to avoid the use of another person’s MyKad? We shall see.
On another note, and giving credit where credit is due to the PMX and government, the actual amount of petrol we receive with the upcoming RM1.99/litre compared to the current RM2.05/litre will not be a lot more, unless we pump a large quantity. Instead, the biggest difference can only be seen when RM1.99/litre is compared with RM2.50/litre. Nevertheless, it is a start. Check out the table below:
