Government To Monitor Global Fuel Price, Inflation Rate - Johari 
KUALA LUMPUR, 16 Nov (Bernama) -- The government will closely monitor the movement in global fuel prices and inflation rate before making any decision to step in to help the people, said Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
He said the decision would depend on how much the government would benefit from the increase in global oil prices.
"The 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) will be continued to alleviate the burden of the Bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40) and middle income household group (M40) categories due to the increase in fuel prices.
"If both the fuel prices and inflation rate increase drastically, the government will step in to help the people, especially those from the two categories to ensure that they don't fall below the poverty level," he told reporters after officiating the 'Global Marketing Summit 2017' here, today.
He said for every US$1 increase per barrel in the oil price, the government would make an additional income of about RM300 million.
"So far, we do not have oil price benchmark in order to step-in," he added.
On the weekly pump price mechanism, Johari said the government had no plans to change it at the moment and would not set a ceiling price for fuel.
"Ceiling price is a policy matter, I cannot decide and say openly. It needs to be discuss with the Prime Minister and Cabinet because it is very sensitive issue as it involves all the businesses in Malaysia.
"If (we) say it wrongly, people will interpret differently and this can lead to uncertainty in the environment," he said.
The inaugural summit was organised by the government's Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit and the National Entrepreneurship Institute, aimed at sharing insights on the process of transforming Malaysian and Bumiputera businesses into successful global brands.
-- BERNAMA
