Hoping new fuel price a New Year gift to people: DAP
Published on: Monday, December 29, 2014
LABUAN: Former DAP Chairman here, Lau Seng Kiat, hoped that the new fuel pump price on January 1 will be "meaningfully lower and felt by the people as a pleasant New Year gift". "On January 1, the government would implement the revised fuel pump price and it is the hope of all motorists the price of popular fuel like RON 95 would be no more than RM2.00 per litre and also record a significant drop in price for RON 97 and diesel based on the present huge tumble in global crude oil prices. It would be insulting if prices drop by a mere few sen again," said Lau.He pointed out that when September oil prices took a downward trend and plunged by 20 per cent, the government lowered the fuel price though not accordingly. RON 95 fell by 4 sen to RM2.26 from RM2.30, while RON 97 dropped by 9 sen to RM2.46 from RM2.55.
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In the case of diesel, it was hiked by 3 sen to RM2.23 from RM2.2.0."The present price of crude oil prices are at the lowest at about US$60. The industry says the drop had reached 40 per cent and may settle by a drop of 50 per cent since Opec member countries continue to maintain their production levels despite the oil glut," said Lau. Lau said based on these factors, consumers also expect fuel price to be at a level that was realistic and commensurate with the market trend. "If the government, for some reason, still maintain a high fuel pump price, it would be unfair. The government had already withdrawn fuel subsidy and this had led to substantial savings.
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Consumers also need to have savings." He said the majority of the people were being burdened by the increasing cost of living, thus saving from fuel expenditure would be a relief and helpful. Lau noted that following the fuel price drop, the government should initiate serious efforts through the Ministry of Domestic Trade to ensure that the benefits were passed by the manufacturers and others to consumers.
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The fuel price is now fixed on a system called "managed float", meaning the monthly average price of fuel in the open market would be used for selling.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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