{"id":42769,"date":"2026-04-08T18:52:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42769"},"modified":"2026-04-08T18:52:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:52:45","slug":"reducing-fuel-duties-across-the-board-could-be-regressive-jeffrey-siow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42769","title":{"rendered":"Reducing fuel duties across the board could be regressive: Jeffrey Siow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->Even as the Government works towards cushioning Singaporeans from the impact of war in the Middle East, it will not reduce fuel or diesel duties across the board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Doing so, said Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow, \u201cis too blunt an approach, and it could also be regressive\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Speaking in Parliament on April 7, Mr Siow, who is also Senior Minister of State for Finance, added: \u201cAt the same time, we want to preserve the price signals for consumers to use energy more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said that as an open economy, Singapore must allow fuel prices to reflect market realities. \u201cIf prices are artificially suppressed, importers may choose to divert fuel to where prices are higher, and over time, this can tighten supply and leave us worse off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said the Government\u2019s \u201ctargeted approach\u201d provides support for those who are directly impacted, and this allows help to be channelled to those who need it most.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Siow had earlier announced <!-- -->a<!-- --> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/platform-workers-to-receive-200-cash-from-end-april-to-manage-impact-of-middle-east-conflict?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">one-off $200 cash disbursement<\/span><\/a> <!-- -->to active platform workers, private-hire car drivers and taxi drivers from the end of April, as well as temporary government assistance to co-fund cost increases for some essential bus services.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"$200 cash for private-hire and taxi drivers, platform workers: Jeffrey Siow\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L2Fvw5bCVpM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Several MPs had filed questions on fuel prices, including Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC), who asked if the Government is considering temporary or permanent diesel and petrol pump price adjustment mechanisms to mitigate the impact of pump prices on consumers and businesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Fadli Fawzi (Aljunied GRC) had asked whether the Government would further regulate petrol station operators to ensure that changes in petrol prices are linked to actual market conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">And Ms Diana Pang (Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC) and Mr Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar GRC) had asked about measures to reduce anti-competitive behaviour among petrol companies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Petrol and diesel prices have been<a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/business\/economy\/why-petrol-prices-go-up-like-rockets-but-fall-slowly-like-feathers-in-spore-and-globally?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\"> steadily climbing since the start of the Iran war,<\/span><\/a> with diesel prices between $4.42 and $4.68 per litre as at April 6, which is more than the $4.10 to $4.20 per litre for premium petrol.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">According to motoring website Motorist.sg, diesel prices had mostly remained at around $2.50 to $2.60 per litre in the past 24 months, before hitting $2.70 per litre on March 4, just after the war began, and increasing thereafter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The posted price of 95-octane petrol, meanwhile, is between $3.46 and $3.47 per litre, which surpasses the previous record $3.42 per litre set<!-- --> during the Ukraine crisis<!-- --> in 2022.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"responsive-iframe-base none\" title=\"dynamic_iframe_wrapper\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/hAjjE\/16\/\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer;undefinedclipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\" loading=\"lazy\" data-testid=\"responsiveIframe\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Responding to Mr Fadli\u2019s question on regulating petrol station operators, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang said Singapore\u2019s competitive and open economy means that prices would naturally fluctuate in response to various factors, including changes in global supply and demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThe Government does not dictate the prices or price changes of businesses, so long as the prices are set independently,\u201d she said, adding that the approach is to ensure the market remains competitive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ms Gan said there is no evidence to suggest that the market for petrol station operators is not competitive<!-- -->.<!-- --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">She added that the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore will keep watching pump prices to make sure there is no anti-competitive behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Citing measures such as road tax and petrol duty rebates that were part of Budget 2021, Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) asked what thresholds would have to be met for similar measures to be rolled out to assist Singaporeans who rely on vehicles for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Siow said that besides being a revenue measure, road tax works with other policies to achieve other longer-term outcomes. These include<!-- --> pricing in externalities related to public health and pollution, and<!-- --> influencing buyers to choose more fuel-efficient vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Pressed further by WP\u2019s Mr Chua on whether measures can be extended specifically to businesses with diesel vehicles, Mr Siow said that even if diesel tax duties are cut, the savings \u201cmay not necessarily pass through fully to the end consumer\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Siow reiterated that the Government does not want to blunt price signals and reduce the incentive for businesses to switch to more energy-efficient modes of transport. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/reducing-fuel-duties-across-the-board-too-blunt-an-approach-could-be-regressive-jeffrey-siow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 Even as the Government works towards cushioning Singaporeans from the impact of war in the Middle East, it will not reduce fuel or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}