KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The government may exclude higher income groups from receiving Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) fuel subsidies in the next phases of reform, said an aide to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Political secretary to the prime minister and finance minister, Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim, said the change is part of a gradual plan to retarget fuel subsidies for greater fairness and efficiency, the New Straits Times reported.
He said the current phase focuses on ensuring that all Malaysian citizens with valid identity cards and driving licences can purchase RON95 petrol at RM1.99 per litre.
“The first step is to exclude non-citizens, and we will carefully monitor this phase before moving on to the next stage,” he said during a press conference in Kampung Simee today.
The report put the potential cut-off point at the so-called “T15” — an informal label meant to describe the top 15th percentile of income earners.
Muhammad Kamil stressed that the government is taking a phased approach to avoid disruptions and public backlash.
“Imagine if we implemented everything at once; there would be hiccups and technical challenges, but this staged process allows us to refine the system with minimal impact on revenue,” he said.
He also responded to criticism that the initiative does not raise incomes or effectively target those most in need since high-income earners still receive the subsidy.
“Reform is a process, and our friends in PAS need to be patient because sometimes in politics whatever we do is seen as wrong,” he said.
He said the government set the subsidised RON95 fuel threshold at 300 litres per month after extensive consultation and based on average consumption of 200 to 220 litres.
“We added a bit more and rounded it up to 300 litres to avoid disputes, and even if we raised it higher, there would still be complaints,” he said.
Muhammad Kamil added that setting a limit was necessary to prevent abuse of the subsidy system and to stop people from profiting by reselling cheap fuel.
He said the government aims to ensure that the new mechanism delivers real savings and confirmed that from Sept 30, all Malaysians with a valid driving licence will be eligible for subsidised RON95.
