Fuel Prices Lower Than Major Oil Producers Like Saudi Arabia

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today strongly defended the country’s commodity price competitiveness, revealing that retail fuel prices in Malaysia remain lower than those in major global oil-producing nations, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking during an impactful Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar stated that the price of subsidized RON95 petrol under the federal government’s BUDI MADANI framework has been successfully maintained at RM1.99 per litre. In stark contrast, retail pump prices in Saudi Arabia have climbed above RM2.40 per litre, a factual disparity that the premier argued demonstrates Putrajaya’s concrete commitment to keeping fuel costs highly affordable.

The Prime Minister explicitly dismissed localized political claims that Malaysia’s domestic petrol prices have lost their edge compared to heavy export nations as structurally inaccurate and out of touch with real-time global economic data.

“Fuel prices in Malaysia are lower than those in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, that is a fact that must be remembered. When we called for fuel prices to be reduced to RM1.50, the price in Saudi Arabia at that time was around 50 sen,” Anwar reminded the lower house.

“Now, the price of RON95 petrol in Malaysia is RM1.99 per litre, while in Saudi Arabia it is over RM2.40 per litre. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also recorded higher prices, and the UAE even raised fuel prices two months ago despite being a major oil producer,” he explained.

The ministerial clarification followed a pointed supplementary inquiry raised by Datuk Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu). The opposition lawmaker had questioned the current administration’s retail fuel trends in comparison to the pricing models utilized during the era of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, while also drawing focus to Anwar’s historic campaign pledges to slash baseline fuel prices during his lengthy tenure as the federal opposition leader.