Govt continuing efforts to keep prices in check - PM

The government will continue to find ways to keep prices of goods at a level that does not burden the people, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

He said this includes increasing food production and other measures, adding that the government is not taking the issue lightly despite being criticised by the public.

The problems behind rising prices may not be fully understood by the public too, he said.

“The best example of that (government measures) is the work of (the late domestic trade minister) Salahuddin Ayub, he was always thinking about how to negotiate with companies, shops, and producers, how to reduce the price (of goods).

“But the whole world is facing this problem and we are still trying to resolve it as best we can.

“Now (acting domestic trade minister) Armizan (Mohd Ali) is also helping so that this effort can continue. We will continue to take additional measures,” he said.

The late domestic trade and cost of living minister Salahuddin Ayub

Anwar said this when officiating the Mega@Tambun Rahmah Sales at the Mydin Manjoi parking lot in Ipoh, Perak, today.

He said keeping rising prices in check is not easy, but as a responsible government, it will continue to look for solutions.

He went on to explain the types of issues faced by the government and cited how India raised taxes by 40 percent for the export of garlic and red onions last week.

“This means there are days where we can control and there are days when it is difficult because India increased taxes by 40 percent to export onions. If we are going to farm our own, it will take some time before there are results.

“But when it comes to chicken and eggs, Alhamdulillah, at least under our administration, we have those. The government has to pay subsidies to cover the price of chicken, if we don’t, prices will be high,” he said.

‘We import too much food’

Anwar said the public sometimes may not understand the issues behind rising prices, adding that if the prices of certain items were not too high, it meant the government had been providing subsidies.

He said this would also mean the government would need some planning for the future, such as to ensure higher domestic production to rely less on exports.

“I have told all the major government-linked companies like Sime Darby, Guthrie, Felda that they have to think about this because we import too much food. The land in Malaysia is fertile but we import a lot of food items.

“So, for that reason, we have directed that these companies also bring bigger revenue output. That’s why Khazanah, for example, cooperates with companies such as Farm Fresh for milk and so on for domestic production.

“That way we can lower the cost a little because we produce domestically. If they are imported, prices will be higher,” he said.

Earlier during the Mega@Tambun Rahmah Sales event, which attracted some 8,000 visitors, it was announced that total sales as of 4.30pm reached RM270,000 covering 36 items.

- Bernama