Fuel subsidy under review

KUALA LUMPUR: Targeted fuel subsidy is being mulled by the government for the lower income group as rising global crude oil prices push the subsidy bill higher. The announcement by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali comes amidst rising crude oil prices and drastic increase in government fuel subsidy.

“We’ve talked about the review. Those with BMWs cannot enjoy the same subsidies as those with Kancils,” he said during a press conference yesterday.

The government, he noted, was still seeking a suitable restructuring mechanism for that purpose, adding that this was necessary following a drastic increase in the fuel subsidy projection for 2022 to RM28bil from RM11bil last year.

Azmin also announced that his recent 10-day trade and investment mission to the US had succeeded in attracting RM16.52bil in investment from several US companies.

“We hope that all these commitments to investments can be finalised in the third quarter of this year, creating employment opportunities for the locals,” he said.

Among the US companies, he said, were medical device company Insulet, materials supplier Ferrotec, Amazon Web Services Inc (AWS) and diagnostic test maker Cue Health.

The sum, he added, did not include additional investment projects by Texas Instruments and Boston Scientific which are already based in the country.

The Malaysian mission, he said, aimed to secure investments for the semiconductor industry, digital economy and medical devices in line with the National Investment Aspirations.

The investment, said Azmin, would see technology transfers, including the involvement of local industries and their supply chains.

He said despite the global challenges and uncertainties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, trade between the US and Malaysia grew last year.

“Trade between the two countries increased by 21.4% year-on-year to RM217.1bil in 2021,” he added.

Currently, US is Malaysia’s largest global trade partner and export destination while the country is the 17th largest trade partner for the US.

Azmin said there was still RM1.44bil in export potential for the US market.