Today marks the announcement of Bajet 2020 but it’s also Friday, so time for another weekly fuel update. After some relief for RON 97 users last week, the price of the fuel is set to go up again for the coming week.

From tomorrow, October 12, RON 97 will be priced at RM2.67 a litre, which is a seven sen increase from last week. As before, RON 95 petrol will continue to be sold at RM2.08 per litre, the maximum price that consumers will pay no matter how high market prices push pump prices, at least for now.

Next year will see the start of the government’s targeted fuel subsidy scheme for RON 95 petrol, which will see the current price cap of RM2.08 per litre be removed and the fuel floated. Based on the finance ministry’s Automatic Price Mechanism (APM) calculations, RON 95 would be priced at RM2.37 per litre without the price cap in place.

Meanwhile, Euro 2M diesel will continue to retail at RM2.18 per litre, while Euro 5 diesel – which is 10 sen more than Euro 2M diesel – is priced at RM2.28 per litre. Without the price cap for diesel fuel in place, Euro 2M diesel would be at RM2.27 per litre. The government would absorb an estimated RM112.64 million in fuel subsidy costs for the period of October 12 to 18.

-paultan