KUALA LUMPUR: Titiwangsa member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani today proposed for direct cash aid to replace subsidies for packet cooking oil to address issues of leakages.
The former second finance minister highlighted there were cases of wholesalers purchasing the 1kg packet of cooking oil at the subsidised price of RM2.50, but selling them to micro enterprises at a higher price.
He said at present, the country produces 60 million packets of cooking oil per month, or 720 million packets a year, which are being sold at RM2.50 per packet, benefiting 3.2 million B40 households.
"I believe that it is time come for cash transfer instead of people buying cooking oil.
"If every B40 household uses about 5kg of cooking oil a month, they can continue to purchase it at RM2.50 per packet and give cash transfers for the difference between the market price (and the subsidised price)," he said in Dewan Rakyat today.
Johari added the move would allow the packet cooking oil to be sold at the market rate, while the government gets to save on subsidies and subsequently prevent leakages.
Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh agreed with Johari's proposal, saying it could prevent the leakages of the sale of packet cooking oil.
"I agree with what Titiwangsa said and a cash transfer might be the best way (to deal with it)," she said.
Fuziah added that the mechanism for targeted subsidies including for packet cooking oil will be implemented when they receive the needed data from the government's central database hub (Padu).