The authorities should monitor the sale of petrol to foreigners more closely following the reopening of the country's borders, says Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The former prime minister was commenting on a photo making the rounds on social media showing foreign vehicles filling up on RON95 petrol at a petrol station in Malaysia.

“RON95 petrol is a controlled item because it is highly subsidised. It is against the government's Supply Control Act to sell RON95 to foreigners," he said.

Najib added that RON95 is being sold at RM2.05 per litre in Malaysia.

“It is the 11th lowest price in the world and it is cheaper than in some of the major oil-producing countries and Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Oman,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday (April 3).

Najib added that RON97, which may be sold to foreigners, is priced at RM3.91 per litre in Malaysia.

“However, it is still much cheaper than S$3.02 (RM9.37) for RON95 and S$3.51 (RM10.90) for RON97 in (Singapore) because petrol is highly taxed (there)," said Najib.

“It is a great contrast to Malaysia where the subsidy given for RON95 in Malaysia is around RM1.70 per litre. If foreigners fill 40 litres of RON95 only, the government will lose RM68 of the people's money to foreigners,” he added.

Najib said that a ban on selling RON95 to foreigners was implemented when he was prime minister.

From August 2010, Malaysian citizens driving foreign-registered cars were required to show their MyKad before they could buy RON95.

This followed a ruling that only Malaysian citizens were allowed to purchase RON95, while foreigners could only buy RON97.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by LIEW JIA XIAN

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