KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — The government is still monitoring the effectiveness of the diesel subsidy targeting scheme and focusing on its implementation before moving on to targeted subsidies for RON95 petrol.

National daily Berita Harian reported Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan as urging the public not to speculate and instead give the government time to first resolve the issues surrounding the diesel subsidy targeting scheme.

"We are still evaluating the effectiveness of the diesel subsidy targeting scheme, and from the data, we are monitoring whether it is running smoothly or not, and this matter is still being fine-tuned.

"At the same time, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and the Ministry of Economy are still refining an effective method for targeting RON95 subsidies. Give us time to ‘settle down’ first to see whether the same method (as with diesel targeting) will be effective.

"But for now, the focus is on diesel subsidy targeting, and we should give the government time to refine it. It’s not appropriate to speculate on what might happen,” he was quoted as saying during a press conference at the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) Enforcement Division in Pengkalan Kubor, here, today.