Rafizi: RON95 Subsidy Criteria, Mechanism Will Be Announced Soon

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

The long-awaited rationalisation of RON95 petrol subsidies in Malaysia is set to take affect very soon this year. In fact, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli reportedly confirmed that the criteria and subsequent mechanism for the new targeted RON95 subsidy would be announced soon.

“The economy ministry and finance ministry will bring the proposal of the mechanism and eligibility to Cabinet for approval, and as we progress, we will communicate to the public as soon as possible,” explained Rafizi to local daily The Star earlier today.

He also confirmed that some of these announcements will be made progressively going forward. “In a few weeks, we hope to finalise the matter with the government’s approval in accordance with the proposal by the economy ministry,” he said.

Moreover, Rafizi also detailed that the announcement will include the transition of eligibility criteria from the existing set that is gross income to nett disposable income instead. The former was defined through the B40, M40 and T20 income segmentation.

Prior to this, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Fuziah Salleh stated that a person’s employment status and number of dependents are amongst the cost-of-living indicators that will be taken into account and used to determine their eligibility for the RON95 subsidy.

Additionally Rafizi had also mooted prior that the proposed levy system to implement RON95 petrol subsidies risked seeing some of the poorest households miss out on financial aid. This is based on findings that up to 40% of these households had not registered their vehicles under their own names.

Nevertheless, as detailed by Prime Minster Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during Budget 2025’s tabling last year, targeted RON95 subsidy would see up to 85% of the Malaysian population continue receiving which whilst top 15% of earners (T15) will be paying more for petrol instead.