Food stamps being considered to cushion rising cost of living

MUAR - Providing food stamps is among the options the Government is looking into to cushion the rising cost of food prices in the near future.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said besides food stamps, some countries also provide annual incentives or have a stockpile system in place while Malaysia provided subsidies such as for fuel.

“We have not decided yet but I will look into all of this,” he said at a press conference after launching a Doktor Turun Kampung programme in Pagoh on Saturday.

He said the Government was very concerned over the rise in living costs and had made it the seventh National Key Area Result target.

“We will have to look into many areas and factors to determine affective measures to cushion the rising living costs. And from related data gathered by the Domestic Trade Ministry since last year there is a tendency for prices, especially foodstuff, to increase,” he added.

Muhyiddin, who heads the special committee to study on the rising prices, said it was a global issue which linked with higher prices of fuel which in turn affected food production.

- The Star