KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 – The retail prices of fuel will be maintained on a managed float system based on the world price of crude oil which is currently trading at US$63 per barrel (RM263.75), Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said. He said in 2008, the world crude oil price reached US$140 per barrel and RON 95 then was retailed at RM2.70 per litre compared with RM2.31 per litre now.
“When it comes to a stage where we have to make a discussion, we will discuss it. As far as today, it is still far, as we have to remember that it was US$140 per barrel before,” he told reporters at the Kampong Bharu Food and Arts Festival 2017 organised by Kampong Baru Development Corporation here today.
Johari, who is also Member of Parliament for Titiwangsa, said the fluctuating price of crude oil was beyond government control and what it could do to monitor the situation and distribute the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) to prevent the lower income group from falling into poverty.
“Today’s float scheme will be maintained as we cannot change it, as (world crude oil price) is beyond government control. It’s still far from what we’d seen, and it’s still manageable at around RM2.31 per litre,” he said, adding that the government could not do anything about rising crude oil price as it was determined by the world market.
“Malaysia now has a population of 31 million is the 25th largest oil producer, not the number one or two. If we were to look other oil producers, some produce up to 11 million barrels a day. We cannot control the world’s crude oil production. What we can do is making sure that monitoring will be done so as to avoid causing hardship to the people,” he said.
Commenting on the stabilisation of the ringgit, he said there were many factors and as the global outlook is good as it is estimated that the in 2018 the local unit should advance to around 3.80 against the US dollar. “Since Malaysia is an open country and we are trading with all countries in the world, now we are reaping the benefits. With the increase in oil price, with more foreign exchange expected, it will, in turn, strengthen the ringgit indirectly,” he said. — Bernama
