The Finance Ministry has set up a team to look into revamping government subsidies but the deadline as to when a concrete structure would be put into place is not known.

This was revealed today by Deputy Finance Minister II Awang Adek Hussin when approached by reporters after delivering a speech at the 12th Malaysian Capital Market Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

"Yes, we have a team which is looking (into) and studying the thing especially (after) the prime minister announced that we have to look into revamping the scheme. Our officers in the Finance Ministry are the main players," he said.

However, Awang could not give the public any indication as to when the revamp process would be complete.

"I'm too small (low-ranking) to give a deadline. You (can) ask the PM and maybe he can give a statement," he said.

The issue of restructuring government subsidies emerged when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suggested for a revamp of state subsidies for various commodities during his closing speech at the Umno general assembly last week.

Abdullah said the government is currently footing too much in subsidies and revealed that the government had earmarked RM40 billion for subsidies - the same amount budgeted for development - in 2007 alone.

"If this subsidy is reduced, then certainly there would be more money to develop the country," he said.

However he refused to say when prices will go up if petrol subsidy is cut but speculations continue to run rife that an increase is due early next year.

Malaysians will understand

Under the current structure, the government would spend about RM40 billion on petrol subsidy once the world oil price reaches US$100 per barrel.

Awang also elaborated that various options are currently being looked at whereby the system as a whole has be taken into account.

"Sometimes when you have subsidies that you still want to keep in place for certain groups especially the poor or low-income people, the enforcement and implementation must be very careful because we don't want to have abuses or people taking advantage.

"We need to be very comprehensive in our approach. We must properly understand what are the likely implications and how to plug all the loopholes," he said.

The minister opined that Malaysians will understand the situation should the cost of petrol go up after the subsidy restructure.

"I'm sure Malaysians would understand and appreciate ... we are people with very big hearts for the poor.

"We feel for them we don't want them to be unduly burdened but at the same time we must do within our means within bounds of reason (to do this)," he said.