Monday, June 9, 2008

20 Spillover Effects of the Petrol Hike

It is certain that there will be spillover effects on the Malaysian population as a result of the recent petrol hike. Here are 20 effects that I can think of:

  1. Energy price hike (this has already been announced by the government, of course)
  2. Food price increase (even though the government is subsidizing the essential foods)
  3. Transport service fee increase (lorries, buses, airplanes, taxis, etc...)
  4. Public transport nightmare (as more and more people will use the inadequate public transport system)
  5. Products containing oil or oil derivatives will increase in price (detergents, soap, etc)
  6. Grocery price increase (higher costs like transportation and plastic packaging will cause even groceries to shoot up in price)
  7. Cinema tickets go up (cinema halls will cost more to cool with the energy price hike)
  8. Healthcare to cost more (ambulance will cost more to operate, energy price hike will affect cost of running a hospital)
  9. Poverty rate increase (the borderline poor will be re-classified as poor with more things becoming un-affordable to them)
  10. Increased crime rate (robberies, thefts)
  11. Family ties will suffer (parents are under stress to earn more, thereby reducing the time that they can spend with their family members)
  12. Purchasing power of consumers will fall (less visits to the mall)
  13. Food and beverage industry will suffer (more Malaysians will eat at home)
  14. Entertainment industry will slow (reduction of cinema-goers and concert-goers)
  15. Domestic tourism will suffer (consumers will try to save on un-necessary trips)
  16. Companies may need to cut jobs - possibly causing increased unemployment?
  17. Car sales go down
  18. Possible economic downturn
  19. Political instability (the government has certainly lost popularity with this move)
  20. Loss of foreign investments (political instability in the country might scare off investors)
I believe all of the above is just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, I'm no economics student. So, I might have missed out quite a few. What else can you think of?

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