Doing the right thing
Over the last few years, rising oil prices have affected households'
budgets all over the world. To help the rakyat, the BN government
continued to maintain prices of petrol, diesel and gas in Malaysia
at low levels. The prices of these goods are now one of the lowest
in the region.
Global analysts predict that global oil prices will go up even more
in the next few years. The BN believes that this challenge must
be faced in a sustainable and responsible way.
Reducing prices even further is an inefficient and irresponsible
'solution'. The costs required to support this measure benefit the
wealthy more than the poor. Instead, BN seeks to help those in need
more directly, either through targeted financial assistance or by
charging lower prices for lower usage of petrol products.
Reducing prices also encourages overconsumption. We must strive
to reduce our usage of such high-priced goods by increasing our
energy efficiency or encouraging more alternative energy sources.
Reducing prices will also create a dangerous dependence on the country's
oil and gas production capacity. Malaysia is projected to become
a net importer of oil in less than 10 years. We must use today's
limited resources to develop tomorrow's sources of growth and income.
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