The retail price for petrol and diesel will go up by two sen per litre while Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will see a hike of two sen per kilo effective tomorrow, said Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Mohd Shafie Apdal today.

The new price of RON97 (unleaded) petrol in the peninsula would be RM1.37 per litre, RON92 petrol RM1.33 per litre while diesel will cost 78.1 sen per litre. The new price of LPG will be RM1.35 per kilo in the peninsula.

The new price of RON97 petrol in Sabah is RM1.35 per litre RON92 petrol RM1.33 per litre and diesel 78.4 sen per litre while LPG will cost RM1.43 per kilo.

In Sarawak, the price of RON97 petrol will go up to RM1.36 sen per litre, RON92 petrol to RM1.33, diesel 77.8 sen and LPG RM1.43 per kilo.

"The increase in price is caused by the rise in the world price of crude oil from RM94.12 per barrel to (US$24.77 per barrel) to RM126.27 per barrel (US$33.23)," the minister was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

Subsidies, tax exemption

Mohd Shafie said despite the increase the government would still provide subsidies and tax exemption amounting to RM800.6 million for the products in May.

The last increase in the price of petroleum products was in March last year.

He expressed confidence that traders would not take advantage of the rise in petroleum prices to increase the price of other products.

Mohd Shafie said even though the price of petrol, diesel and LPG had increased in Malaysia, it was still lower than that in several other countries such as the Philippines and Thailand.

He said the government would also stand to suffer losses in revenue due to the tax exemption and subsidies.

For instance the government was projected to collect RM166.9 million from tax on diesel next month compared to RM180.8 million this month, he said.

No burden

Meanwhile Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi believed that consumers will not feel the pinch as a result of the increase.

He added that the government only agreed with the new prices after carrying out detailed studies.

"We have considered and scrutinised the matter and then we find that due to very high petrol subsidies, there is justification for us to increase it," Bernama quoted him as saying.