Communication and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has said the ministry will be making some special announcements on lowering the cost of living right before Christmas.
The Pakatan Harapan led government had made reducing the cost of living which had ballooned due to various economic factors their biggest election cry. These were among the worrying concerns the public faced and voted in the Anwar team into Putrajaya.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim looked at austerity as means to send a loud clear message to his administration that wastage will not be tolerated. The PM who will not be taking any paycheck and received support from his cabinet for a 20% pay cut also gave a warning stating that if any in his team were found to be corrupt will be immediately removed.
However, the first move Anwar made to address the rising cost of living was the low-hanging fruit of tariff hikes. In one sweep, the PM announced there will be no electricity tariff hikes for consumers or small businesses.
Fahmi, on the other hand, had mentioned that telecommunication operators were asked to reduce mobile plan packages in an effort to make them more affordable. He cited, previous Communication Minister Gobind Singh Deo was able to achieve this and will make an attempt to make this happen as well.
The new government has a couple of avenues under its arsenal to make changes that could bring down the prices of goods and necessities including property prices, what remains now is the will.
