Fuel prices down by 15 sen

The government has cut petrol prices by another 7 percent, bringing pump prices down by 15 sen per litre as global crude prices continued to ease.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the pump price of RON97 petrol will now be RM2 a litre - down from RM2.15 - while both RON92 petrol and diesel will be RM1.90 effective tomorrow.

In a statement today, Najib said that this was the fifth reduction since August in honouring the government's promise to the people to lower fuel prices if oil prices dwindled in the world market.

"This reduction... follows the promise the government has made to reduce (fuel) prices if there is a drop in oil prices in the global market," he said in a statement.

"The government hopes that businesses will take steps to reduce the price of goods so that the public can get the full benefit of the price cuts," he added.

"We also hope that consumers will use petrol and diesel sparingly even though prices have dropped."

June's hike saw inflation soar, with the August price index reaching a 27-year high of 8.5 percent, also driven by the escalating cost of food and transportation.

In September, inflation eased to 8.2 percent as fuel prices dropped.

It is the fifth fuel price cut since June's 41 percent hike on the back of soaring crude costs, which sparked angry street protests and calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign.

RON97 was RM1.92 per litre in June before the hike.

Abdullah had said prices would be reviewed periodically based on the cost of oil.

The last cut, by 15 sen, was just over two weeks ago.

Another reduction later this month?

The government in August announced that pump prices would be adjusted according to world crude oil prices on the first day of each month, starting from September.

The reduction today was expected following remarks by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad last Saturday.

Shahrir had said that the fuel prices were to be slashed by this week after a steep drop in the price of crude oil.

"You can expect an adjustment in the fuel price because the average crude oil price for the past two weeks has been below US$70," he was reported to have said in the media.

And there could be better news for consumers as Shahrir also revealed that the price of petrol could go down twice this month - this means that there could be another reduction at the end of the month.

"It may even be possible for price cuts to occur in mid-November and at the end of the month," he had said on Saturday.