KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not have the heart to increase the electricity tariff for domestic users, despite the large amount of money needed to foot the bill.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the previous administration had decided to raise the electricity tariff, with the cabinet papers for this already being completed.
"We (the government today) are just supposed to implement it. But when I read the paper, it was against our policies, the people will be burdened by the increase of electricity tariff.
"Economy-wise, (the increase) was needed by the government because it is not possible for the government to pay RM30 billion or RM10 billion in the first quarter to meet this need.
"But after reviewing the paper, I was not willing to continue with it," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said therefore the government would not increase the electricity tariff for domestic, small-medium enterprises and agricultural users.
"We will only increase the tariff for big companies such as multinational companies and giant corporations who earn billions in profits."
Last week, the government had agreed that all domestic users would be spared from any tariff increase following the electricity tariff adjustment through the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) mechanism.
Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had said tariff increase would also not be implemented on lower voltage (LV) non-domestic users.
This group includes micro businesses as well as small and medium enterprises.
This means a total of nine million electricity users or over 90 per cent of users in Peninsular Malaysia would not be affected by the increase in fuel prices for electricity generation.
However, medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV) users among industry participants including multinational corporations will face a surcharge at the rate of 20 sen/kWj.
