KUALA LUMPUR: The government will provide subsidies worth over RM70 billion to ensure the public will not be adversely affected by rising prices of goods and food items.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said this today after chairing the special Jihad Task Force meeting in Putrajaya.
He said Malaysia's inflation rate of 2.8 per cent was among the lowest among Asean nations, and other developed countries including European nations with double-digit inflation rates.
"This is because of the government's continued commitment to implementing measures to ease the public's burden and control prices of goods and food items," he said.
Annuar said the formation of the task force would focus on the aspects of enforcement, with consistent action taken to curb rising prices of goods.
"The special Jihad task force will continue to strengthen the cooperation between agencies and this will be expanded accordingly to tackle inflation and the rising cost of goods."
Annuar also assured that stern action would be taken to ensure that the supply of subsidised cooking oil packets sold in the market was sufficient.
He said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry was expected to provide a detailed study on the matter.
The shortage of cooking oil in the market, he said, could have happened due to the spread of false news that the cooking oil subsidy had been stopped, resulting in panic buying.
"We have discussed on this, and certain measures will be taken. On the issue of cooking oil supply, there are certain measures that need to be improved.
"The amount of cooking oil subsidised is 60,000 metric tonnes and this is more than enough. We only need to manage it better," he said.
Annuar said Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would continue to monitor and act against profiteering and any attempts to hide goods.
He also called on the public to inform the relevant agencies on illegal stockpiling or profiteering activities.
"I would like to urge traders and sellers to not abuse the subsidies provided by the government to the people because many Malaysians are affected by the inflation."