Published: Tuesday May 12, 2009 MYT 11:54:00 AM
Updated: Tuesday May 12, 2009 MYT 3:09:25 PM

Petrol price: RON97 to cost 20sen more

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: The RON97 petrol will be sold at RM2 per liter effective Sept 1, which is 20 sen more than its current selling price once RON95 is available nationwide.

The RON97 will be sold as a premium petrol product while RON92, the cheapest petrol currently available, will be removed from the market.

The RON95 - to be sold at RM1.75 - would be available to consumers in stages effective Wednesday and all petrol stations nationwide would sell the product by Sept 1, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“By Sept 1, RON97 will be the alternative petrol and a premium product.

Instead, the RON95 petrol will be the choice petrol for consumers and be rest assured, the product is of high quality and is good enough to be filled into even luxury and high-powered cars,” he said.

Ismail Sabri was speaking to reporters after the soft-launch of RON95 petrol here yesterday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to launch the nationwide sale of the petrol in September.

Ismail Sabri said the decision to phase out the RM1.70 per liter RON92 would not affect consumers as statistics show that only 5% to 10% of vehicle owners use the petrol, adding by paying only 5 sen a liter more, consumers would get to enjoy better quality petrol.

“I am pleased that petrol companies and the automotive industry players are supportive of the idea of having RON95 in the market.

What we provide for our consumers is much better than what is being enjoyed by others including those the United States, Japan and Europe,” he added.

He said at RM1.75 per litre, the government has to fork out 3 sen in subsidy for RON95 while a subsidy of 6 sen is paid for every liter of RON97, adding it could not be determined yet if there would be revenue for the government when RON97 be sold at RM2 as it all depend of the global petrol price.

“If it (petrol price) remains low, we can enjoy a bit of revenue but if it goes up higher, we have to subsidise more because the government has already pre-determined the selling price,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said the government, through his ministry has implemented various programmes to help the rakyat cushion the effect of an inrease in cost of living, including allocating RM812 million to kick off projects such as distribution of essential goods such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, flour and liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

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