May 25, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24: Malaysia has no plans to raise pump prices of petrol and diesel despite mounting fuel subsidies following record crude oil prices, a minister said on Saturday.

Malaysia, which has some of Asia’s lowest petrol and diesel prices, will instead try to better manage its subsidy scheme to prevent abuse, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad said.

Malaysia’s pump price for petrol is 1.92 ringgit ($0.60) a litre.

“At the moment, there are no plans to raise petrol and diesel prices,” he was quoted by news agency Bernama as saying.

With inflation running at 15-month high, the government is unlikely to allow higher fuel prices with plummeting support for the ruling coalition after the recent elections, analysts said.—Reuters