At 10 per cent — the official estimate — of the fuel subsidy, the Economic Planning Unit in 2005 characterised the illegal outflow as “akin to giving to foreigners the subsidies intended for Malaysians”. Now that our neighbours have reduced their fuel subsidies, it is perhaps time to stop subsidising them and to take away the incentive to smuggle out our diesel by aligning our prices closer to theirs. [Narrowing differentials. New Straits Times. September 11 2007]
Finally, it sinks in one of the local mainstream media. But does this mean there would be a fuel price hike in the future?
I refuse to believe that the NST says such thing out of “mere” economic rationale. The possibility of somebody higher up told them so simply appeals to me. The NST is a government’s mouthpiece after all. If that is so, it would definitely be an odd move however since the general election expected to be just around corner. Or maybe, election is not so close after all!
The recent budget in my opinion itself might not be as populist as the previous ones, despite what I wrote preemptively. Hmm…
I have stated earlier that the government of the day has missed its chance to ride on positive sentiment due to slowing economy. There has been talk of having the election in November but given the latest news from Japan.
If I were BN, I would somewhat favor to have the general election at later dates, perhaps after the release of economic reports for the third or even the fourth quarter are out. I would ride out the bad news and wait for a better time. Maybe, after Chinese New Year in February when economic activities, local and abroad, are up due to seasonal demand. Therefore, from being too late, November now seems too early.