PUTRAJAYA, Dec 15 - Weak global crude prices have prompted Malaysia to cut pump prices by another 10 sen effective Dec 16, bringing down the retail price of RON 97 petrol to RM1.80 a litre, RON 92 petrol to RM1.70 a litre while diesel is also RM1.70 a litre.
This is the seventh straight price cut since the government raised pump prices up to 41 per cent in June with RON 97 petrol reaching RM2.70 a litre from RM1.92 a litre that left many upset and inflation rate to a 27-year-high to 7.7 per cent in June and later 8.5 per cent in August.
Crude prices have plunged since the June high of $147/barrel(RM529/barrel), dipping below $40 - a staggering 72 per cent fall.
However, global crude prices jumped 10 per cent last Thursday, the biggest gain in weeks as Opec announced it could cut output.
Analysts said the weak prices are due to "demand destruction" as a slowing global economy diminishes crude usage leading to a drop in prices. Demand has already fallen in the US, the world's biggest oil importer, by an estimated five per cent in the third quarter of this year. Other Western nations have also imported less oil.
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