KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 -- Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has reportedly insisted that Malaysia will continue to reduce petrol subsidies this year to reduce its fiscal deficit.

Financial news Bloomberg reported him saying that the government is currently on track to concentrate its aid on helping the poor.

"We are sticking to it," he said in an interview at Putrajaya yesterday,

The Pandan MP further added that the government must "manage the sequence" of the reduction, in light of the possibility of inflation increasing even before subsidy reductions are put into effect.

It further said that the country intended to phase out blanket subsidies for RON95 fuel, which is the most widely used and economical gasoline variant, which constitute...