Ahmad said targeted subsidies will benefit a large segment of the population and will have a minimal impact on the cost of living.

He was responding to a question from Ahmad Amzad Mohamed (PN-Kuala Terengganu) in the Dewan Rakyat on the government’s plan to introduce targeted subsidies for fuel and cooking oil.

Ahmad said the government has already implemented targeted electricity subsidies from Jan 1.

Currently, the government is subsidising electricity tariffs for low voltage non-domestic users, namely micro businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

However, medium voltage and high voltage users among industry participants, including multinational corporations, are paying a surcharge of 20 sen/kWh, which is still lower than the previous 27 sen/kWh.

He said the government has saved some RM4 billion through this measure.

Yesterday, former second finance minister Johari Ghani highlighted the importance of targeted subsidies, citing the example of Saudi Arabia.

Johari (BN-Titiwangsa) said the Saudi government slashed blanket subsidies that only benefited the rich in 2016. This helped the Saudi government to save money and allowed it to give cash aid directly to the poor.

Last year, the government spent RM77.7 billion on subsidies.