SHAH ALAM: Petrol dealers say they have to resort to severe cost-cutting measures if the government persists with its weekly fuel price float, which goes into effect on Jan 1. He said PDAM was against the weekly pri­cing mechanism as dealers would be exposed to the risks of oil price fluctuations. Perak Petrol Dealers Association chairman Kenneth Lee said the price mechanism changes had already caused many petrol dealers to quit the industry and more were expected to surrender their licences once the weekly float comes into effect next week. “About 50 petrol dealers quit in 2017 and these are just the ones we know about, while some sold or transferred their business to others as they couldn’t survive,” Lee said. “It might be better to set up a fund to stabilise the country’s oil prices, rather than trying to change oil prices weekly, because hawkers and other businesses are not redu­cing their prices even when oil pri­ces go down each week,” Wu said.

Source: The Star December 29, 2018 23:15 UTC