Pendapat pakar ekonomi If support for the disadvantaged is the goal, subsidies for petrol and diesel are an incredibly inefficient and wasteful way to go about it. Most of the benefits of energy subsidies goes to higher income households, not the lower income group. An IMF study found, on average, the top 20% gain six times more from energy subsidies than the bottom 20%, and that petrol subsidies are the most regressive (i.e. the benefit climbs higher the higher your income level). Cash transfers are a far more efficient and effective way of supporting the poor. Some have complained about the timing of the cut (here for instance), just as global oil prices have begun falling. But that completely misses the point – the best time to cut subsidies is when prices are falling, especially with the fixed price mechanism we use here in Malaysia. The reason is that it makes the final adjustment to market pricing – and ultimately, that’s the goal – that much easier to achieve. If prices are high, you’re going to have many more and deeper cuts, with correspondingly higher pain. Read more at Tuan HishamHs blog
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:52:54 +0000
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