The government is to increase the price of the RON97 petrol blend by 15 sen to RM2.30 per litre from Dec 1, according to sources.

A formal announcement will be made later on Tuesday, one of the sources said. There will be no increase for RON95 and it is expected to remain at RM1.85 per litre.

azlan The government had earlier this year cut subsidies on the benchmark RON95 blend, although it baulked at the wide-ranging reforms recommended by a government think-tank,

fearing a voter backlash.

The government does not subsidise RON97, which is a higher octane fuel compared to the RON95.

The price of RON97 is adjusted every month depending on the global price. It was last increased by 5 sen on Nov 2 to RM2.15.  

In October, the government said its expenditure on fuel subsidies would be RM24.9 billion in 2011, up from a planned RM23.7 billion in 2010.

Malaysian inflation edged up to 2.0 percent year-on-year in October, and housing, water, electricity and fuel rose 1.4 percent from a year ago.

Those items account for 21.4 percent of the CPI basket.

- Reuters

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