KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has hailed the government’s decision not to pass through a higher surcharge rate to consumers despite the recent sharp increase in fuel and other electricity generation costs.

“The FMM is pleased that the government had positively considered its call for assistance to help curb one of the industries’ major operational input costs, i.e. energy cost,” said FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai on Saturday (June 25).

On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Putrajaya had decided to maintain the electricity and water tariffs in Peninsular Malaysia in efforts to fight the rising cost of living.

In a statement, Soh said: “The government’s decision to absorb the cost of the fuel price which amounts to RM5.8 billion and hence maintain the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) surcharge at the current rate as well as to maintain the current water tariffs would ease the cost management of utilities during this challenging period.”

He added that the FMM hopes that government would continue to engage the industry should there be any potential higher ICPT surcharge in the future given the uncertainty in the global market and volatility in energy prices.

The FMM earlier this month repeated its call for a moratorium on the ICPT surcharge for the July-December 2022 review period until at least the following six-month review period.