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PETALING JAYA: Following the government’s announcement of maximum gasoline and diesel prices of RON95, Putrajaya was urged to consider a floor price as well.
The president of the Association of Gasoline Distributors, Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz, said that oil companies will have to pay the government if fuel prices fall below a minimum level.
“With the maximum price, the government will pay the difference to the oil companies. And with the minimum price, the government will be able to collect the difference, ”he told FMT.
He said gasoline distributors welcome the move to cap the price of diesel and RON95 as prices are expected to increase starting this week.
Today, the Ministry of Finance set the maximum price of RON 95 at RM 2.05 per liter and RM 2.15 per liter.
Khairul said the subsidy would allow consumers to pump the same amount of fuel as before, thus avoiding any loss of revenue for distributors.
“We earn with every liter of fuel sold. If prices had risen, consumers would have bought less fuel. With higher prices, we would also need more capital to buy fuel, which is a burden for us, ”he added.
Khairul said distributors have been affected by the current restrictions on motion control orders, but not as much as last year. “In 2020, distributors were losing up to 80% of their profits, but they started to recover a bit from November,” he added.
This year, he said their earnings have been cut by 50% and they are just waiting for the MCO to end.
