Budi95 helps Malaysia manage fuel demand amid global uncertainty, says deputy finance minister

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — The Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) initiative is seen as a useful demand management tool that helps Malaysia understand national usage patterns, said Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong.

He noted that under the initiative, introduced in September last year, each person was initially allocated 300 litres per month, before it was reduced to 200 litres per month.

“I think the nation’s number one concern is how to ensure that we have a consistent supply for as long as possible, even if the war (in West Asia) drags on,” he said.

He added that clear communication and securing broad public support to reduce consumption as much as possible while ensuring long-term supply could help address the fiscal issue to some extent.

Liew said this during a fireside chat titled “Malaysia’s Response to Global Energy Crisis: Build Back Better”, moderated by The Edge’s assistant editor Emir Zainul

Ensuring continuous access to fuel supply, even at reduced levels, is important, as political and social stability will enable Malaysia to manage the crisis more confidently, he said.

He emphasised that Malaysia is entering the crisis from a position of relative strength, noting that while many countries have seen downward revisions in growth projections after February, Malaysia’s outlook remains resilient.

“Malaysia’s economic growth consensus is expected to be between 4.5 and 5.0 per cent (as announced by Bank Negara Malaysia), higher than the government’s projection of 4.0-4.5 per cent announced last October.

“We are entering this crisis in a position of strength. However, we must be mindful that this crisis is likely to last longer than initially expected,” he said.

He added that Malaysia must adopt a build-back-better approach by first defining the desired post-crisis end state and then working backwards to determine the steps required to achieve it. — Bernama