Akibat kenaikan harga minyak yang semakin naik, kerajaan bakal tamatkan subsidi minyak.Akibatnya, harga petrol selepas ini akan semakin meningkat.Maklumat lanjut dalam kenyataan akhbar dibawah.
BANGKOK, March 4 — Thailand’s state Oil Fund has fallen to about 7 billion baht (RM690 million), the Energy Ministry said today, suggesting the government may soon remove a fuel subsidy, which could add to inflation worries.The government has promised to maintain the domestic retail diesel price at 30 baht per litre until the end of April to help consumers cope with rising global oil prices.The fund is built up through a levy on the refinery price of certain fuels.It has spent about 9 billion baht to support the retail price of diesel between December 17 and March 4, leaving it with about 7 billion baht, Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul said in a statement.But a decision today by the Energy Policy and Planning Office to raise the subsidy by another 0.50 baht per litre to 5 baht from tomorrow would cost the fund about 9 billion baht a month, Wannarat said.Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told Reuters last week the government would stop the subsidy if the Oil Fund ran out.“I fear that the oil price is going to remain high beyond the capability of the Oil Fund to subsidise it, and we will need to start to allow prices to increase in a gradual manner if we were to find that the Oil Fund was heading for depletion,” he said.Analysts said the removal would add to upward pressure on inflation.Credit Suisse said in a report that a permanent 10 per cent increase in the retail price would cut GDP growth by 0.5 percentage point and add 0.7 percentage point to headline inflation within a year. It currently forecast 4.6 per cent for GDP this year and 3.8 per cent for inflation.The central bank has said inflation was a big worry this year and economists expect it to raise interest rates again next week after four increases, by 25 basis points each time, since July last year to tackle the problem.The central bank has forecast core inflation of 2.0-3.0 per cent in 2011 and headline inflation of 2.5-4.5 per cent.Government subsidies on energy and some utilities plus price controls on certain goods have held down inflation, with the annual headline rate easing to 2.87 per cent in February from 3.03 per cent in January.But the core rate, which excludes energy and fresh food, jumped to 1.45 per cent in February from 1.32 per cent, towards the middle of the central bank’s target range of 0.5-3.0 per cent, which it uses to guide monetary policy. — Reuters
Tetapi rakyat negara Malaysia tidak perlu risau setakat ini.Kenyataan di atas datangnya dari Menteri Tenaga Thailand, yang mungkin terpaksa mengambil langkah drastik menghapuskan subsidi minyak kerana dana subsidi Kerajaan Thailand sudah semakin berkurangan dan juga tidak mampu membendung kenaikan harga minyak baru-baru ini akibat pergolakan politik di Asia Barat.
Kami tertanya-tanya, samada kerajaan Malaysia juga akan mengambil langkah untuk menghapuskan subsidi minyak ini di masa hadapan? Harapan kami tentulah tidak.Atau mungkin hanya akan berlaku sekali lagi “penyelarasan harga”, ayat sopan bagi kenaikan harga?Selepas pilihanraya, macam-macam boleh berlaku.
Dengan kenaikan harga minyak yang sudahpun melepasi paras $100 setong, adakah kerajaan masih mampu bertahan dalam pemberian subsidi? Kita tunggu dan lihat. Kebanyakan janji sebelum pilihanraya, pastinya manis-manis belaka. Harap kerajaan tunaikan janji mereka untuk tidak menaikkan harga minyak dalam waktu terdekat.
