MOF Invites Public To Participate In Targeted Subsidy Survey

Nur Adilah Ramli

17th August 2022 - 2 min read

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is inviting the public to participate in a survey related to the targeted subsidy programme. The input gained will then be used by the government to help draft up the programme.

In the survey, participants will be asked to provide their opinions and suggestions on the implementation of targeted subsidies for the following items:

Cooking oil in 1kg polybag packaging
RON95 petrol
Diesel
Cooking gas
Electricity

Survey participants will also need to provide specified personal information, including their monthly household income and monthly expenses for the items above.

In a statement, MOF explained that there is a need to rationalise the current subsidies as they are mostly benefitting the T20 and M40 income groups. To illustrate its point, the ministry cited that in 2019, the T20 and M40 group spent approximately RM480 and RM350 a month on RON95 petrol, respectively. The B40 group, meanwhile, spent only about RM165 a month on the commodity.

Additionally, MOF stated that the public survey is also a new approach by the ministry in its series of public consultation papers. It is part of the government’s initiative to make the annual budget preparation process more transparent, with the involvement of all parties.

To note, the government has reiterated numerous times that it is looking to switch from blanket subsidies to targeted subsidies as the current approach is unsustainable for the country. It is, therefore, reviewing the existing programmes – including the fuel subsidy – to ensure that they are only provided to those who are truly in need.

If you are interested to make your opinions known, go ahead and share your feedback via the online survey form latest by 30 August 2022, by 5.00 pm. If you have any inquiries, you may email the MOF for assistance.

(Sources: The Star, MOF [1, 2])

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