Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said more time was needed to fine-tune the mechanism to prevent leakage.

He also said that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim informed the MPs from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan of the matter when he met them recently.

“He wants to ensure that the majority of the public is not adversely impacted by current policies or those that have yet to be implemented.

“The mechanism is being fine-tuned, which is why there is a slight delay (in the rollout),” he said at a press conference.

In June, finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan said the government would implement the targeted RON95 subsidy in stages this year but did not give any specifics.

On July 1, Amir said the government was working on getting petrol station operators to upgrade their systems for the RON95 subsidy rationalisation scheme to ensure that there would be no queues at the pump.