GOING UP, UP ... and UP!
I'm not referring to the number of hits my blog received, nor the amount of income I'm getting, nor the direction of the stock market. Neither am I referring to Mariah Carey's voice hitting the glass shattering octaves.
Nope, I'm talking about the price of petrol, or fuel or gas, whatever you want to call it. It's going up like nobody's business.
Just yesterday, it was announced that the Government will allow market prices to determine petrol prices after introducing a new subsidy scheme for the lower income groups in August. (I wonder if I qualify for the lower income group subsidy - I have a heavy feeling that I don't)
I really don't know how they are going to do it, the Government I mean. Imagine we are now paying RM1.92 per litre and come August, we will be paying over RM5 per litre! Are they insane?
And the real trouble here is not whether I should continue to drive or at least cut down on travelling (which I can assure you it's impossible) BUT whether I can survive when the price of everything else (and I mean everything else) rises in tandem with the petrol price.
The way I see it, things are going to get real tough. Perhaps the Government should increase the petrol price gradually. Otherwise, we will see a dramatic rise in unemployment, and robberies.
(Note: At the time of writing, I received this latest news - petrol price increase to RM2.70 per litre at midnight tonight!)
In the meantime, more bad news coming our way. From what I heard, Bank Negara will be introducing the new Tiered Pricing Structure for credit card holders on 1st July 2008.
Under this new structure, the 20-days interest free period will no longer be enjoyed by credit card holders who don’t make the full payment on their credit card bills.
Yes, you read that right.
If you only pay partial or minimum payment, interest will be charged on the day the new purchases are posted on the card accounts.
For example, if your last month’s card account shows an outstanding balance of RM2,000 and you can only afford to pay RM1,500, then sorry to say any purchases you make this month with your credit card will be charged interest starting from the date of your account statement. No 20-day interest free period for you!
Sometimes I wonder if Bank Negara is helping us or actually helping the banks make more money. With only one-third of cardholders in this country settling their credit card amount in full every month, it is easy to see how profitable this new price structure will be to the banks.
Coupled with the increase in petrol prices, Malaysians are in for a really tough ride. Best of Luck, everyone!
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