Anwar, who is also the finance minister, reiterated that a majority of the public would not be impacted by the removal of the petrol subsidy.

“The general public, about 85% to 90%, won’t be impacted,” he told reporters after attending Friday prayers here.

He said this when asked how the pricing mechanism would work.

Yesterday, finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan said the government will announce the mechanism for rationalising the RON95 fuel subsidy using MyKad in the second half of the year.

Anwar cautioned the public against being influenced by falsehoods surrounding RON95, adding that only those earning “RM50,000 a month” and foreigners would have to pay for unsubsidised petrol.

On Nov 6 last year, economy minister Rafizi Ramli told the Dewan Rakyat the government would implement a two-tier pricing system for the targeted RON95 subsidy.

He was reported as saying the mechanism poses a lower risk of inflationary impact compared with the cash transfer method, which is currently being used by the government to subsidise diesel.

On Nov 12 last year, Rafizi said the two-tier pricing system would introduce two prices at petrol stations – one that is subsidised and the other that is not – using several methods under consideration, including identity cards and e-wallets.

In March, FMT reported that several economists had backed the two-tier pricing mechanism for the RON95 petrol subsidy, saying it was better than providing the people with cash assistance.