PUTRAJAYA’S decision to postpone its targeted fuel subsidy programme (PSP) is based on concerns that a float of pump prices will raise living costs further for those who will not receive aid.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said as only those in the B40 group are eligible for the aid, others could face difficulties in adjusting to the float, which will be implemented alongside the PSP. Currently, RON95 and diesel are capped at RM2.08 per litre and RM2.18 per litre, respectively, while only RON97 is floated.

World crude oil prices are also currently higher this week, compared to last week, Lim said in Penang today.

“When the PSP is implemented, fuel prices will be floated and the impact of this needs to be studied.

“We want to get the feedback of as many groups as possible, not just from consumers, but from all parties about a proposal to allow the price of fuel to be floated by one or two sen each week,” he told the press after visiting the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge.

Lim was explaining the government’s announcement on December 30 to postpone the PSP that was to begin today.

Putrajaya had set an allocation of RM2.2 billion for the PSP, set to benefit about eight million motorists, and would be applied in the peninsula only.

The subsidy would have worked out to RM30 a month for car owners and RM12 a month for motorcycle owners.

Those in the B40 income category who received the cost of living (Bantuan Sara Hidup or BSH) cash aid will receive the subsidy in the form of cash transfers to their bank accounts.

Those who do not receive BSH, such as M40 or middle income earners, will receive the Kad95, that will be introduced in stages in the first quarter of this year.

“Is the opposition saying they want to go ahead with floating petrol prices without taking into account the effect it will have on people?” he said, when asked about MCA president Wee Ka Siong’s statement that the postponement was yet another election promise that Pakatan Harapan had failed to keep.

The PSP was first announced in October, when Lim tabled Budget 2020. – January 1, 2020.