The retail price of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at all fuel stations nationwide will be standardised beginning Saturday.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal said this was decided at a meeting between him and oil companies today.

Currently, the retail price of fuel sold at petrol kiosks differed according to their locations by between one and two sen, he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

From April 1, the price of RON97 petrol in Peninsular Malaysia will be RM1.92, RON92 RM1.88, diesel RM1.581 per litre and LPG at RM1.75 per kg.

In Sabah, the price of RON97 petrol will be RM1.90, RON92 RM1.88, diesel RM1.584 per litre and LPG RM1.83 per kg, he said.

In Sarawak, the RON97 petrol will be sold at RM1.91, RON92 RM1.88, diesel RM1.578 per litre and LPG at RM1.83 per kg.

Shafie said fuel prices in a number of stations differed for a long time due to transportation cost to the stations.

As the road network in the country was now good, he said oil companies had no reason to impose different prices based on where the stations were located.

He said the government would monitor this matter to ensure over 2,700 fuel stations in the country complied with the uniformed prices.

"The ministry has issued a directive to oil companies and they must inform their pump stations of the matter," he said.

He also said fuel stations were not allowed to fix minimum prices for the public to buy fuel as there was no law or regulation set by the government for that.

Car prices

In another development, the Finance Ministry has been authorised to monitor the reduction in car prices as the government is not satisfied with its development as it did not meet the National Automotive Policy (NAP) objectives.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the government had directed the ministry to hold discussions with local automotive car manufacturers and importers to determine the cut in car prices was in line with the NAP.

"We hope there would be a (reasonable) drop in prices and they (Finance Ministry) are currently monitoring the situation," he was quoted as saying.

Yesterday, Najib said the government was still not satisfied with the cut in the prices of vehicles by car manufacturers, which so far was not very visible.

Through the NAP announced last Wednesday, the government had come up with a new standardised tax structure for vehicles by reducing import and excise duties of between 10 and 15 per cent.

Najib said the findings of the Finance Ministry report would determine the next action to be taken.