KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans to abolish the petrol subsidy as it still has the financial capacity to bear the subsidy.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the government would instead ensure that the rationalisation measure for the fuel would benefit the target groups.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) in the Dewan Rakyat, here, yesterday.
Bung Moktar had asked whether the government was prepared to abolish the fuel subsidy altogether and replace it with an increase in the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) payment.
Ahmad said the subsidy rationalisation would be implemented in stages and not in a hasty manner, taking into consideration the burden faced by the people.
Earlier, t o a quest ion from Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (DAP-Lanang), he said the government had taken several enforcement measures to curb the smuggling of subsidised diesel. — Bernama