The price of controlled and subsidised items will be made uniform nationwide so that the low-income group will get to enjoy the true benefit of the scheme, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said today.

He said the move was one of three measures identified by the government in addressing the increase in the price of goods.

Other measures included creating a subsidy management system and ensuring that the subsidy would reach the target groups.

“If we are to protect the low-income earners, then in principle, we should uniformise the price of essential items, either subsidised or controlled items, in the peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak.

“This is the basic principle. Our country is not peninsular Malaysia only,” he said in reply to Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) during the question-and-answer session in parliament today.



He did not elaborate when the government would implement the plan.

Khairy had earlier asked the minister whether the government was introducing new measures to tackle the increase in the price of goods amid an increase in the global price of oil and food.

Shahrir also said a national inflation committee had been set up to determine the country’s supply policy, with an initial allocation of RM4 billion.

“So far, a total of RM2.5 billion had been applied for to assist the agricultural sector in increasing the staple food supply, bolstering the country’s stockpile as well as expanding the country’s padi farming areas and bringing down production costs,” he said.

Answering a supplementary question from Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), Shahrir said the government had no plan to include kerosene in the list of price controlled items.

“If we include kerosene in the list, the burden of inflation will increase further,” he said.