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MORE than 14.6 million Malaysians have benefited from subsidised RON95 petrol under the Budi MADANI RON95 (BUDI95) programme as of 11 February 2026, underscoring what the government describes as a successful shift towards targeted subsidy reform.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the system has been operating smoothly, processing an average of 3.1 million transactions daily without disruption.
“Through BUDI95, the people enjoy RON95 at the rate of RM1.99 per litre directly at the pump without any new registration or complicated process.
“The use of MyKad as a mechanism to verify eligibility in targeted subsidies has proven effective and practical,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH–Tebrau) regarding fiscal reforms that have been successfully implemented, such as BUDI95, and whether the government plans to replicate the mechanism for other controlled items including cooking oil and sugar.
Amir Hamzah said identity-based verification tied to citizenship has also helped curb leakages to non-citizens, strengthening the integrity of the subsidy framework.
Looking ahead, he said the government, through the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, is studying the use of MyKad for the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (COSS).
Further refinements are under way to expand the existing MyKad-based ecosystem, including integration with the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) system, in order to enhance identity verification and monitoring of subsidised cooking oil sales.
The move signals Putrajaya’s broader intention to entrench digital identity verification at the heart of its subsidy rationalisation efforts while containing costs and tightening controls on leakages. - February 12, 2026
