Umno Youth supports subsidy restructuring, says Akmal

PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth supports the restructuring of subsidies, says its chief Dr Muhammad Akmal Salleh (pic).

He said that it was also proposed by the previous Barisan Nasional administration, despite it being heavily opposed at the time.

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“We understand the efforts needed to build our country but at the same time, the diesel subsidy rationalisation should have been done in stages to avoid any sudden economic impact," said Dr Akmal.

“We don’t want this policy to cause more harm than good to the people,” he added.

Dr Akmal said that the rationalisation should have begun at a smaller scale to allow room to manoeuvre should challenges arise.

He added that large-scale rationalisation should only be done once the economic situation stabilises, and even then should be implemented in phases.

“The rationalisation saw diesel prices rising from RM2.15 to RM3.35 and the sharp increase will surely affect the economy and the public.

“Subsidy payouts to those in need are also still in the early stages and will surely see unavoidable issues.

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“There will be an economic impact on the public, and this is hard to avoid,” he said in a statement on Monday (June 10).

On Sunday, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said diesel prices will be floated and retail at RM3.35 per litre in the peninsula starting on Monday.

He said the price is based on the Automatic Pricing Mechanism formula for the month of May.

The previous price of diesel announced on June 5 was RM2.15 per litre, which will be maintained for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

When announcing the fuel subsidy rationalisation on May 21, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said subsidies for diesel would be withdrawn for "the rich and foreigners".

The diesel subsidy will first be rationalised in the peninsula and will only be implemented in Sabah and Sarawak later, which will save the nation RM4bil annually, he said.