Friday April 6, 2012
RON95 subsidy to stay
KUALA LUMPUR: The price of RON95 petrol will remain at RM1.90 per litre for now as the Government has no intention of reducing or removing the subsidy, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said most Malaysians were not affected by the petrol price increase since only 10% use RON97, which is not subsidised by the Government.
“Don’t worry, we will still maintain (the subsidy) for now,” he said after launching the Perfect Livin ‘12 exhibition yesterday.
The global rise in oil prices pushed the subsidy for RON95 petrol up by 10 sen to RM1.03 per litre in March.
At the event, he said Malaysia was the eighth largest furniture exporter in the world and the second largest in Asia after China.
Last year, exports of furniture products amounted to RM6.46bil and the Government is targeting RM16bil by 2020, said Ismail.
“There is still a lot of potential for growth,” he said, adding that Malaysia imported RM1.3bil worth of furniture products last year.
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BACK STORIES:
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Petrol & Sugar Price Rise -- Where Goes Petronas Profits?
Don't you believe the governmnet's figures of 3 to 4percent in annual Consumer Price Index rise -- the barometer of inflation. Ordinary people will tell you their experience of shrinking purchasing power of the ringgit to buy daily essentials like rice, sugar, that cuppa of tehtarik or kopi, meat like chicken and vegetables, inflation is closer to double digit and thus far outpaces the so-called Government's assured price rise is within reasonable limits!
TODAY the dailies again reported another rise in price increase for RON97 at 15sen and RON95 at 5sen while sugar rises by 20sen per kg. I've said once too often that PETRONAS' reported profits after tax amounting to tens of billion ringgit the past few years are NOT TRANSLATED into some form of benefits to the RAKYAT -- and it is FOR THE RAKYAT THAT THE NATIONAL OIL CORPORATION HOLDS THE OIL RESERVES IN TRUST< IS IS NOT?
JOM!
I've contended in all my writings whenver Petronas announced its annual profits that the citizens are not benefitting from the huge annual profits that have been rising since the past five years as te world prices also rose/are rising. Malaysia is a PRODUCER OF PETROLEUM AND A NET EXPORTER of petroleum, and also the nation's PETROLEUM IS OF A HIGHER GRADE AND THEREFORE COMMANDS A PREMIUM PRICE IN THE WORLD MARKET...so logically, Petronas should be able to BRING DOWN THE PUMP PRICES and NOT raise the prices on the excuse of paying more subsidies!
Some concerned citizens in Seremban will gather TOMORROW at 9.00AM, Sunday December 5, 2010 at the Main Market/PASAR to protest against the government's uncaring measures -- for every time the petrol price is raised, the transport charges also go up, affecting almost all goods and services. Yes, the UMNOputras with their high salaries are immune, BUT THE MAJORITY OF MALAYSIANS -- like 80percent of us! -- will be hit hard in our pockets.
And PM Najib's wife, Rosmah,has a budget of RM1million to spend almost every three days and keeps on eating cakes! Her pet project for privilged gifted children,Permata, benefiting several hundred at the most, has been gifted a generous angpow of RM111million to spend in one year by her generous husband. Yeah, continue to eat cake and drink capuccino at five-star hotels while the common folks eat roti canai and drink tehtarik at roadside stalls.
WHO's GONNA WEEP FOR MALAYSIA, I WONDER?
Price revision for RON 95, sugar
By Farrah Naz Karim
From nst.com.my
PUTRAJAYA: The government yesterday announced the second wave of subsidy rationalisation effective today.
RON 95 grade petrol will now cost RM1.90 per litre, while diesel and LPG will cost RM1.80 per litre and RM1.90 per kg respectively.
White refined coarse granulated sugar will now cost RM2.10 per kg from the previous RM1.90.
However the price of RON 97 petrol will continue being subjected to a managed float to reflect the fuel price in the global market.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) in the Prime Minister's Department chief executive Datuk Seri Idris Jala said the price rationalisation of the four consumer goods would enable the government to reduce its subsidy expenditure, which stood at RM1.18 billion.
The first subsidy rationalisation was carried out on July 16.
The rationalisation had then allowed the government to reduce its expenditure by over RM750 million.
Idris said yesterday despite the rationalisation of the items' prices, they were still cheaper than those of neighbouring countries, such as Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
He said the subsidies reduction would be used for initiatives and programmes under the Government Transformation Plan that would contribute towards improving the people's quality of life.
He said the subsidy rationalisation was necessary as the government must continue to manage its fiscal position by enhancing revenue and at the same time reducing expenditure.
The Economic Transformation Programme, he added, aimed to increase the gross national income per capita to reach US$15,000 (RM51,000) by 2020 and to achieve this, the economic growth must be at least 6 per cent per annum, adding that this would allow government revenue to increase via tax collection.
"This second rationalisation will contribute to our efforts in strengthening the country's financial management by reducing its deficit.
"This will also allow us to provide allocations to critical sectors, such as education, infrastructure development in the rural and transportation," he said at a briefing where Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also present.
Idris said the subsidy programmes carried out before the rationalisation initiative had not been effective in assisting those who needed help.
Read more: Price revision for RON 95, sugar http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/8petr/Article#ixzz178IbrXyM
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From Midnight Voices and Other Poems:
By Desiderata-YL Chong
Bleeding Malayisans
Oil fields offshore Malaysia are a-plenty
Yet when world prices rise
Malaysians pay more for their petrol
Shouldn't it be the other way around?
We produce an oil surplus
Which command premium prices
No, the politicians smartly tell us
The oil subsidies keep rising
Hence, we raise the pump prices
We chase away Malaysians in their youth
To study in faraway land
A decade or two later
We beg them to come back
To "serve" the motherland
Who bleeds more, my dear?
Malaysia or Malaysians?
Chong Yen Long
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Petronas profits rise, pump prices rise...
Either way, you consumers are suckled. To the top people at the National Oil Corporation, the oil revenues/profits are for them to mainly enjoy, NOT for the Rakyat/citizens at large whose trust has been emplaced on these suckers and UMNO chieftains with the right cables who continue to plunder...
Does it really matter to the ordinary ciizen Joe like you and me whether Petronas achieved super huge profits like last Financial Year (and the immediate two years too?), and now currently reporting declining profits? Not one positive byte. When world oil pices rose, the Government lamented the subsidy element had risen, therefore pump prices had to be RAISED.
When world oil prices fell/are falling as now, the Government laments the Petronas' profits would fall, and therefore they might have to raise pump prices to make up for the shortfall in revenues accruing to the government's coffers.
"Heads you win, tails I lose." (This is my initial projection based on the previous lessons of Petronas-cum-Government followup actions after Petronas' annual announcement of financials. I will be happy to be proven wrong this time around, and God bless my fellow Malaysians it's the beginning of rolling good times ahead...This point was ADDED @6.25PM June 26, 2009 ~~ YLChong)
I am going to bed with a curse silently creeping stealthily onto my lips praying that those vultures in charge of my country's rich resourc would have just desserts after enjoying the free lunches on the tax-payers' behalf...
May God save us from these trustees,
I:
S:
A: men.
From the Malaysian Inisder:
Petronas profit falls
UPDATED
By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — National oil company Petronas’s net profit declined by 13.9 per cent due to low oil prices and high production costs.
The group reported RM52.5 billion in net profit compared with RM61 billion the previous year.
Petronas CEO and president Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican does not expect oil prices, currently around US$50 a barrel compared with a high of over US$140 last year, to improve any time soon.
"Fundamentals do not justify the prospect of high prices," he told the media during a briefing on the group's financial results.
"Demand is down and spare capacity has increased. My own opinion is that the current prices are due to speculative trading and the depreciation of the US dollar. We are still in a low price and high-cost environment till the global economy improves."
The Petronas group's revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the previous year.
"Our performance is on par with other major and national oil companies," said Hassan.
Looking forward, the company, one of the most profitable in Asia, expects to invest about US$12 billion (RM42 billion) this year of which 60 per cent will be to develop domestic upstream and downstream capabilities and the rest to develop new international hydrocarbon reserves.
It will also look to bring down costs by as much as 30 per cent to help its bottom line.
"We will talk to our contractors to bring down costs," said Hassan.
He added that the company's cash position is "very comfortable" but does not rule out raising funds via borrowings due to attractive interest rates.
Related ArticlesPetronas contributed RM74b to government coffers Straight-shooter Bakke lined up as new Petronas bossNajib’s bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag Mahathir in the dark about new Petronas chief MIDF keeps ‘buy’ call on Kencana Petronas to buy LNG from Queensland Petronas partner Santos to lock in LNG sales deals by year endMalaysia’s oil output falls to 550,000 bpd
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UPDATEd @6.25PM, June 26, 2009~~~~~~~
From malaysia-today.net:
Time for Najib to come clean on Petronas, Omar Mustapha
Posted by admin
Friday, 26 June 2009 17:16
Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
Pakatan Rakyat leader Lim Kit Siang has asked Prime Minister Najib Razak to issue a clarification to Parliament on various issues related to national oil firm Petronas, including his insistence on appointing “defaulter Omar Mustapha” as director.
The DAP veteran also called for the urgent installation of a transparent system of accountability so that oil wealth accumulated by the firm was protected for future generations and not looted nor lost through high-level corruption.
“Recently, what is making waves in Petronas and well-informed local circles and reported internationally, though completely swept under the carpet by the local mainstream media, is the repeated attempts by Najib to force the appointment of his aide Omar Mustapha as director of Petronas,” said Kit Siang in his blog.
“Najib should explain to Parliament why he is insisting on appointing a Petronas loan defaulter as a director of Petronas, as the widespread objections to Omar’s appointment to the Petronas, now taken up by the Board, is fully justified and valid.”
Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
“Earlier, the name of former Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar had been bruited as the likely new Petronas CEO. In the last few days, another name has emerged: Mohd Bakke Salleh, the Felda Holdings group managing director, and that he is to understudy Hassan until the present Petronas CEO’s retirement next February,” said Kit Siang, who is also the Ipoh Timur MP.
“Although the final decision of the new Petronas CEO rests with the Prime Minister, MPs from both sides of the divide should be given the opportunity to give their views on the possible candidates.”
Government increasingly dependent on Petronas, but how long will the oil last
Kit Siang also expressed concern about the drop in profit reported by the oil firm on the back of lower global crude prices and higher production costs.
“Petronas plays a critical and strategic role in the public finances of the country, as Petronas paid out to the government RM74 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2009 compared with RM61.6 billion the previous year, an increase of 20.1 per cent.
“Parliamentarians, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, must also be given regular updates of Malaysia’s only company on Fortune 500, especially as Petronas has just reported a net profit decline by 13.9 per cent,” he added.
On Thursday, Petronas had reported RM52.5 billion in net profit for the financial year ending March 31, 2009, compared with RM61 billion previously although revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the year before.
Its contributions to the government in the form of dividends, taxes and royalty had amounted to RM72.5 billion or 45 per cent of federal government revenue in the 2008 calendar year.
As such, Kit Siang said it was vital to set up a transparent system of reporting to ensure that wealth accumulated by Petronas was fully protected and accounted for to prevent funds from being siphoned out through corruption.
“This is a very high figure reflecting the government’s heavy dependence on oil revenue, a situation which may not be sustainable or ideal for a country trying to develop an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
“Petronas represents the biggest chink in the government’s armour in its claim of accountability, transparency and good governance as the national oil corporation as presently constituted is totally not accountable to Parliament! There is no annual Petronas report to Parliament.
“If Najib is sincere in his motto of “1Malaysia, People First. Performance Now”, he should present to Parliament on Monday his proposal for a new regime of Petronas accountability to Parliament.so that there is meaningful monitoring and accounting of the petro-ringgit in Parliament,” the veteran leader said.
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