Commuters may face problems topping up their fuel tanks come January 2019. Bumiputera Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Abu Samah Bachik said that this is because petrol station owners have been refusing to replenish their reserves.
At the heart of this problem is the change in fuel prices set to take place on 1 January. According to Abu Samah, the station owners do not want to buy petrol and diesel now; only to have to sell it for a lower price next month.
The Pakatan Harapan government is reintroducing the weekly managed floating petrol price in 2019. Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the current oil prices would mean that RON95 petrol and diesel would be much lower than the current prices.
Abu Samah claims that the situation will make it difficult for businesses like his own to turn a profit. It should be noted that the previous Barisan Nasional government had implemented a similar float two years ago, only to have it suspended when it lost the 13th general election.
In all fairness, petrol station owners were not happy with the result of the float at that time either.
A floating petrol price is considered necessary to remove fuel subsidies and reduce government spending. Despite this, Lim has said that the government will step in if the price of RON95 would exceed the current RM2.20 per litre.
