Najib Repeats Call To End Power Tariff Hike Allow Further Epf Withdrawals

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A sudden increase in electricity tariffs will result in costlier goods, says Najib Razak.PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has urged the government to immediately withdraw the electric tariff hike, which could go up by as much as 15%, in the non-domestic sector.
He reiterated that only gradual increases in the electricity rates – by 5% every six months – should be allowed.
A surcharge of 3.7 sen/kWj was imposed on all non-domestic users, such as commercial and industrial companies, on Feb 1.
“This means that the cost of electricity for commercial consumers has gone up by almost 28% in just four months and this will certainly have a huge impact,” Najib said in a Facebook post today.
He said this would lead to an increase in operational costs in the non-domestic sector, which would be transferred to consumers in the form of more expensive goods and services.
The Energy Commission had previously said electricity costs had increased by 45% because of higher prices for coal used to produce power.
Najib also warned the government that inflation would become a huge problem, saying proactive measures and policies needed to be put in place to stabilise prices in the short term.
He also repeated his call to allow Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals of up to RM5,000 or RM10,000 as soon as the dividend for 2021 is announced and credited into the members’ accounts.
He said this would alleviate the burden of people affected by reduced income and debt arrears due to the pandemic, as well as helping them to cope with the increased prices of goods. - FMT

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