Singapore tour agencies milked Malaysia’s diesel subsidies for decades, Anwar says

Some 3.8 million foreigners had been ‘reaping the benefits’ of taxpayer-funded subsidies, according to Malaysia’s prime minister

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said overhauling diesel subsidies was necessary to prevent the financial drain from misuse. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Published: 11:04am, 19 Jun 2024Updated: 12:07pm, 19 Jun 2024

Singapore tour agencies’ recent fare increases expose their long-standing reliance on Malaysian diesel subsidies, according to Malaysia’s prime minister.

“Tour buses and travel companies from Singapore raised prices because they said they could not get diesel subsidies,” Anwar Ibrahim said at an event on Monday.

“This meant that they had been benefiting from our diesel subsidies for decades. Not only them, there were foreign fishermen and others at the country’s borders making use of our subsidies.”

Overhauling diesel subsidies was necessary to prevent financial drain from misuse, Anwar told the event at a mosque in Bukit Mertajam.

“Plenty of funds were leaking over the years,” he said, adding that the subsidies had benefited 3.8 million foreigners.

A petrol station in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia’s prime minister said “foreign fishermen and others at the country’s borders” had benefited from diesel subsidies. Photo: AP

“It [diesel] was taken out to Thailand and used by Thai fishing boats … this is Malaysian taxpayers’ money but foreigners were reaping the benefits,” he said.