BUDGET 2019 | The mechanism for providing targeted fuel subsidies for motorists is still in the works, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

However, he indicated that owners of luxury cars may not qualify even if their car’s engine capacity falls within the 1,500 cubic centimetre limit to qualify for the subsidy.

“We originally wanted to limit it to B40 households but we felt that the group to be given targeted fuel subsidies is not big enough, so we are studying how this can be implemented.

“But I wish to stress here that for those who have luxury cars, don’t even think about it (jangan haraplah),” he told a press conference in the Parliament building today.

He was asked to comment on a list of luxury cars with engine capacities of 1,500 cubic centimetres or less that have been circulating on social media platforms since his budget speech yesterday.

In the tabling of the Budget yesterday, Lim said the government will subsidise fuel for single car owners with an engine capacity below 1,500cc or motorcycles with an engine capacity below 125cc and less.

This, he had said, was part of the Harapan government's targeted subsidy initiative.

Through the mechanism, the government will provide a subsidy of 30 sen per litre for RON95, limited to 100 litres per month for a car and 40 litres for a motorcycle.

This will be introduced sometime in the second quarter of 2019 after which the government planned to reintroduce price float for RON95 fuel price based on the Automatic Price Mechanism (APM) first adopted by the then BN administration.

Najib mocks

Harapan and its predecessor Pakatan Rakyat had promised to reduce fuel prices on numerous occasions including saying that it would be brought down to RM1.50 per litre.

Its GE14 general election manifesto had promised fuel subsidies for motorcycles under 125cc and cars under 1300cc.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday mocked the new government's plan to put RON95 fuel prices back on float.

“What happened to ‘Today we win, tomorrow the fuel price drops’? Where has the RM1.50 per litre (promise) gone?"