“People ask why we don’t lower petrol prices. Firstly, our national debt is RM1.5 trillion. We have huge debts, so the government must make choices,” Rafizi, who is also the economy minister, said at a Jelajah Madani event in Sungai Tua here last night.

His explanation comes after Perikatan Nasional’s Azmin Ali agreed to Rafizi’s challenge to a debate, on condition that Rafizi first prove that he had successfully revived Malaysia’s economy.

“First, lower the oil prices, right? It’s not me who made the promise, it’s you. Has it gone down? If it hasn’t gone down, lower it first before meeting me,” Azmin was reported to have said.

In 2022, Anwar Ibrahim promised that the price of petrol in Malaysia would be reduced, a day after he came to power.

Rafizi said that for every litre of RON95 petrol, currently priced at RM2.05, the government subsidises RM1, or about two-thirds of the cost, which amounts to RM25 billion.

Last year, subsidies for RON95, diesel and electricity surpassed RM80 billion, while the government’s source of income was roughly RM300 billion, he said.

“So, if the government has to pay RM80 billion in petrol subsidies, about RM30 billion as interest on loans, and fund workers’ salaries in the hundreds of billions, in the end, we run out of money.”

He said it would have been easier to win the current state elections had the unity government just dropped petrol prices by 20 sen, but noted that this would have come at a cost.

And while everyone would vote for the government, it would mean that teachers’ salaries would be cut, housing projects for the poor would stall and Kelantan, and the water woes in Sabah and Selangor could not be resolved.

“So, tell me, which is the more responsible thing to do?” he said.

A few days ago, Rafizi confirmed that Putrajaya had never discussed reducing petrol prices, particularly RON95 and diesel.

In May, he had also said that lowering fuel prices would be counter-productive to plans to transition to renewable energy.