Moves to ease cooking oil shortage expected next week

 

A meeting is to be held next week on finding a long-term solution to a shortage of bottled cooking oil, according to a federal minister.

PETALING JAYA: 

An agreement to ease a shortage of bottled cooking oil is expected to be finalised next week, with talks being held between government officials and cooking oil suppliers, a federal minister said today.

Armizan Mohd Ali, the minister for domestic trade and cost of living, said government intervention was needed to ensure adequate supplies of cooking oil, with Ramadan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and the Kaamatan and Gawai festivals falling within the next three months.

“This is an immediate short-term intervention, implemented through special incentives, but we also need to think about a long-term solution. We will have discussions with all involved on how to solve this in the long run,” he said, Bernama reported.

Ministry officials had contacted the companies involved and would hold a meeting early next week to implement the intervention. “We will formalise this mechanism next week and sign the agreement on Monday or Tuesday,” Armizan said.

Armizan Mohd Ali.

He said cooking oil companies had already begun restoring production to normal levels following the commitment of government intervention.

Yesterday, Armizan said the government had decided to look into providing funds for incentives to the suppliers. The decision was made at a special briefing for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan.

Armizan said the rising cost of crude palm oil had led producers of bottled cooking oil to reduce production, some by 50%, to control costs.

“But the government remains committed to subsidising packet cooking oil and capping the price of bottled cooking oil to assist the people. At the same time, we acknowledge the constraints faced by companies and are working on solutions to balance the needs of both the people and the industry,” he said. - FMT