KUALA LUMPUR: The RON95 petrol subsidy rationalisation must be implemented carefully to avoid burdening the people, says a government lawmaker.
"Will there be a surprise like we saw when diesel subsidies were rationalised? We have to be careful here as it will impact the people,” Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) asked Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli during question time in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (July 11).
During a June 27 interview with financial news outlet Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in China, Rafizi had jokingly mentioned a "petrol surprise" following the bulk diesel subsidy abolition.
Separately, Dr Wee also asked about the correlation between information from the Central Database Hub (Padu) and Budi Madani aid.
The Budi Madani aid is the government’s effort to ensure subsidy allocations are targeted to eligible groups.
He specifically asked how much information from Padu was used to match Budi Madani.
In another question, Dr Wee also asked whether the net disposable income and localities parameters were used for Budi Madani.
Rafizi responded saying there was a crosscheck of information between Budi Madani and Padu.
He said prior to Padu, any application for government aid would need to be processed individually.
“Data is needed from various sources which makes the process longer.
“We are also finalising a standard operating procedure for any agency wanting to develop programmes where they can utilise data from Padu to perform cross checks,” he said.
