COMMENT | Diesel in Peninsular Malaysia now costs RM6.02 per litre. In five weeks since the Strait of Hormuz disruption, it has nearly doubled from RM3.04.

Every business and household in the country is feeling this, and the effects are beginning to show up through the cost of everything that average Malaysians buy.

The question here is not whether diesel should cost more when global oil prices surge. Of course it should. The question is whether the government has given Malaysians the tools to understand, anticipate and plan around the price they are paying.

The government's targeted diesel subsidy system, SKDS 2.0, provides fleet cards to eligible logistics and public transport operators at RM2.15 per litre.

While that protection is real and appreciated by the industry, a 2024 survey found only...