While studies have been conducted, he said the government preferred to assess the outcomes of rationalising subsidies for electricity, chicken and diesel over the past year.

“Let’s see the impact and gauge the public reaction. After that, we’ll be ready to discuss what needs to be done,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during Prime Minister’s Question Time.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) on whether the government planned to introduce targeted subsidies for RON95 petrol.

While he did not reject the possibility of rationalising such subsidies in the future, Anwar said the government would always exercise caution in implementation.

“Subsidy rationalisation is difficult to implement. If you ask me, (the lifting of subsidies for) RON95 should have been implemented long ago, but it’s not easy,” he said.

“The problem is that 3.8 million foreigners use this fuel, and even wealthy people driving Rolls Royce use subsidised fuel. How are we going to resolve this?”

Economy minister Rafizi Ramli previously hinted that the decision to remove blanket subsidies for RON95 petrol would come as a “surprise” announcement, similar to the unexpected lifting of diesel subsidies on June 10.

However, this was dismissed by Anwar who said Putrajaya had yet to make a decision.

RON95 is currently sold at a subsidised price of RM2.05 per litre.