Motorists will have to pay an extra sen per litre for petrol, and an additional two sen for diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices starting Friday.

According to a Bernama report, the Cabinet approved the hike in fuel prices today, announced by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

With the increase, the price of RON 97 or unleaded petroleum is now RM1.33 per litre while that of RON 92 is RM1.29 per litre.

The new price of diesel will be 74.1 sen per litre, and LPG, RM1.31 per kg.

"The reason for the increase as usual is because the government has to bear the subsidy, which is still big, amounting RM3,326 million from January to November this year," he was reported to have said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The rise in world oil prices had necessitated the reduction of the subsidy borne by the government, said Muhyiddin, explaining the reason for the hike in local prices.

"In my view, the nominal increase will not cause inflation and I hope consumers can accept the nominal hike," he said.