Rafizi unhappy with recent fuel hike

KUALA LUMPUR: Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli today provided a pointer for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on how to beat the opposition in the next election.
The outspoken PKR lawmaker said the prime minister can turn the tables by introducing a 20 sen fuel subsidy per litre for just two months.
"Let me give a tip for him (Najib) to win the election. Just give 20 sen per litre of subsidy in December and January. You will win the election," he said.
"These two months are the hardest for the rakyat as they need to prepare for the reopening of schools. They have to pay the fees, buy shoes and others," he told a press conference at Parliament.
The price of fuel has been on an upward trend the past few weeks, with the latest announcement on Wednesday saw RON95 go up by seven sen, RON97 by six sen and diesel by three sen.
RON95 is now priced at RM2.31 per litre, RON97 at RM2.60 per litre and diesel at RM2.20 per litre.
Rafizi said he had made the calculation and concluded that the government would only have to spend RM900 million in subsidy for the two months.
"Malaysians consume a total of 27 billion litres of petrol and diesel each year. If we take an average of 2.25 billion litres per month, it will only cost the government RM900 million," he added.
Rafizi added the price of crude oil was not expected to go down anytime soon and will hover between US$55 to US$65 per barrel (RM231.93 to RM274.10 per barrel).
He added the matter was made even worse by the declining Ringgit and instability in the Middle East.