PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has repeated his warning that the price for RON95 petrol may be increased to RM2.20 per litre beginning Jan 1.

This, he said, was based on his own calculations using the government’s formula to calculate RON95 and diesel prices under the current managed float system.

Based on the trend of increasing global crude oil prices and weakening ringgit, Rafizi said his prediction was calculated using the latest Brent crude oil price of US$56.14 per barrel and the ringgit valued at RM4.485 to the US$.

“Based on the numbers and referral prices, it is clear that the price of RON95 based on the government’s formula for Jan 1 2017 would be RM2.20 per litre.

“This increase of 25 sen a litre is very high for lower and middle-income families, especially at a time when most of their pay would have been spent on preparations for the new school year,” said the Pandan MP in a statement.

He had first made the claim at a press conference on Dec 20 and urged Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan to state if the expected increase in income from crude oil would be used for petrol subsidies next year.

Rafizi, as such, reiterated his call for prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to enforce a ceiling price of RM2 per litre for RON95 by re-introducing fuel subsidies which had been scrapped in 2014 for the managed float system.

“Any increase of price beyond RM2 per litre should be balanced with an increase of unexpected revenue by Najib’s administration from the rising global crude oil prices,” he said.

At present, RON95 costs RM1.90 per litre at the pumps.