KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): The government will continue to subsidise electricity users in the country, and will provide an additional RM55 million as electricity bill rebate for hardcore poor households at RM40 per month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

While tabling Budget 2024 in the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar said the government still maintains existing subsidies for 90% of electricity users, which will amount to RM16 billion in 2023.

The reduced subsidies for the biggest consumers — representing 10% of total electricity consumers, helped the government save RM4.6 billion in 2023, Anwar added.

The additional targeted subsidy of RM55 million is expected to benefit up to 160,000 households registered under the eKasih programme, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) said in a statement after Anwar's announcement. 

Malaysia in July imposed higher electricity tariffs on high-consumption households that use electricity above RM708/month, marking the end of the blanket 2 sen/kWh rebate for domestic consumers introduced in 2021.

Low-voltage non-domestic users were imposed with a 3.7 sen/kWh surcharge in 2H2023, while medium- and high-voltage users paid a 17 sen/kWh surcharge in the same period.

This remains lower than Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s generation costs, which stood at 27.2 sen/kWh in 1Q2023, according to the latest available quarterly data.

Go here for our comprehensive Budget 2024 coverage.