PUTRAJAYA: The petrol price may fall back to RM1.92 (S$0.80) by the end of the month -- or by Dec 31 at the latest.

The government is confident of reverting to the pre-June pump price in the wake of the declining global prices of crude oil. The icing on the cake may be the possibility of fuel prices dipping below RM1.92 per litre.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad did not discount this possibility.

He said the matter should, however, first be brought before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Amad Badawi to ascertain if a new controlled price of fuel could be set.

He said the immediate gain from the fall in global oil prices was the possibility of pump prices being 23 sen cheaper in the next 26 days.
"I believe that in correlation to the declining global crude oil prices, we would be able to see petrol retailing at RM1.92 again by end of this month, or at the very latest by the end of the year."

The current average world crude oil price has dipped below US$60 (RM211) per barrel.

The government increased petrol prices by 78 sen from RM1.92 to RM2.70 in June after world oil prices skyrocketed. On Aug 1, it announced that pump prices would be adjusted according to world crude oil prices on the first day of each month starting Sept 1.

To date, there have been four price adjustments for fuel with the last on Saturday.

All fuel types were then set at 15 sen cheaper with premium-unleaded petrol (RON97) retailing at RM2.15 per litre (from RM2.30) and unleaded petrol (RON92) costing RM2.05 per litre (from RM2.20). Diesel is now selling at RM2.05 per litre.

The previous petrol price reductions were made on Aug 23, Sept 24 and Oct 15.

A subsidy of 30 sen a litre and a ceiling price of RM2.70 a litre for petrol has been fixed until at least the year's end.

Shahrir urged the public to be patient with the current cost of goods, which did not seem to be going down despite the downward trend in fuel prices.

He said petrol pump prices did not fully determine the cost of goods with the prices of commodities affecting the pricing of consumer items.

"We (the ministry) are still in the process of meeting with the manufacturers and producers to resort to cheaper packaging as one of the many solutions to cut costs.

"Consumers also have to understand that manufacturers, vendors and producers may have purchased their goods at a higher price before the fuel reduction and that it would not be fair to them if they had to slash prices of the items immediately."

He cited the case of manure ordered three months ago when prices of fuel were still high. Shahrir said that producers were left with a stock of highly priced manure.

Prices could not be brought down until the stocks had been cleared.

Asked about the high price of food in restaurants, Shahrir said there was not much the ministry could do as the items sold were not government-controlled.

"For instance, uncooked rice is under the list of controlled goods, but cooked rice is not.

"The vendor would say that the ingredients used to make a plate of fried rice and not the rice itself was the cause of the high pricing."