THE government will step in to lessen the impact of escalating fuel prices if RON95 and diesel exceed RM2.50 per litre for more than three months, the Finance Ministry said today.

“This is to ensure that Malaysians are not overburdened by the rise in fuel prices, and that inflation is kept in check,” it said in a statement.

Fuel prices hit a high of RM2.38 per litre for RON95, RM2.66 per litre for RON97 and RM2.25 per litre for diesel last week.

It was the fifth week of rising fuel prices.

The ministry said the government was aware of the impact of rising fuel prices, with oil hitting US$60 (RM249) per barrel.

According to oilprice.com, brent crude was at US$62.38 as at 6.30pm today.

“The retail price for RON95 is determined after taking into account the prevailing crude oil prices and the exchange rate,” said the ministry.

“The mechanism for determining petrol prices is based on the average weekly prices, where the previous week’s average will determine the prices for the following week.”

It said the government was still providing subsidies for the public transport sector, fishermen and domestic LPG, or cooking gas. – November 20, 2017.