The soaring oil price on the world market will not affect Malaysia seriously in the long-term, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Wednesday.

Malaysia would not be hit so seriously as other countries in the long term since the country has surplus of crude oil, which is being sold at the higher price, he said after delivering a speech at the Global Leadership Forum opened at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Malaysia would adjust itself against the surging oil price, which was traded at around 66 US dollars on Wednesday, he added.

The former prime minister said earlier that although Malaysia was a small petroleum producer, it earned more from each barrel than most other oil producing countries because the country participated in the upstream and downstream activities, including acquiring skills.

Mahathir cited the food price in Malaysia as an example to back up his words.

Currently, the current food prices in Malaysia are basically stable. Many shops, stores or restaurants are selling or serving food at the same price as usual, except some complaints about oil price hikes at gas stations around the country.

The Malaysian government Wednesday announced some immediate measures to offset the petroleum price hike, including reducing road taxes on vehicles by 25 percent to 80 percent.

The Malaysian government also said it would increase welfare to the elderly and the needy people to ease their burden.

Source: Xinhua