Govt working to reduce impact of rising cost of living - minister

 

The government’s move to set a ceiling price for chicken and eggs is to enable the people to purchase the essential food items below the actual price, thus reducing the impact of the rising cost of living on them, said Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Ronald Kiandee.

He said Malaysia was not spared from the rising cost of living due to the increase in input prices and inflation but stressed that the government was committed to taking various measures to ensure that the people were not burdened.

Ronald (above) added that chicken was one of the food components that were directly subsidised by the government after taking into account various aspects, including the interests of the industry.

“The Malaysian government is a responsible government that wants to ensure that it can minimise the impact of the increase in food costs on the people.

“That is why we are taking various measures and actions including subsidising the price of some types of food so that the people can buy them at prices below the actual level,” he told Bernama after officiating at the ministry’s Sports and Welfare Club annual general meeting in Putrajaya today.

On June 29, the cabinet announced that the new ceiling price for standard chicken was fixed at RM9.40 per kg, while the retail ceiling price of grade A chicken eggs was set at 45 sen each, grade B eggs at 43 sen each and grade C eggs at 41 sen each in Peninsular Malaysia, effective July 1.

Ronald said the difference between the selling price and the actual price of the two food items was covered by the government through a subsidy of over RM360 million.

“That is a step taken to reduce the impact of the rising cost of living that the people are experiencing,” he said.

Food security

Meanwhile, in his speech, Ronald said the Food Security Committee, which would be formed through the cooperation of the federal and state governments, would be a catalyst for more efficient and sustainable resource management.

“The empowerment of the agro-food sector will be implemented through increased productivity, strengthening of support systems and services as well as efficient and sustainable resource management,” he said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that Food Security Committees will be set up at the state and district levels to ensure the federal and state governments can implement the National Food Security Policy Action Plan 2021-2025 in a synergistic manner.

- Bernama