The government has a contingency plan to address the issue of higher prices following the removal of price ceilings on chicken and eggs, as announced in Budget 2024, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Dewan Rakayat today (Oct 17).
Oversupply, as well as lower prices of these items in Thailand compared to Malaysia led the government to remove ceiling prices for chicken and eggs.
“We believe that this is the right time to allow the market to operate freely. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security holds a 30% stock of chicken and eggs, and the government stands ready to purchase these items from Thailand should the need arise to prevent price increases,” Anwar said during the Minister’s Question Time session today.
The Budget 2024 announcement last Friday pointed out that current trends indicate a stabilisation of chicken and egg supplies, with market prices now below the previous ceiling prices.
He announced the removal of temporary price controls to enable the local market to function freely, ensuring the availability of chicken and egg supplies.
In response to a supplementary question from Hulu Terengganu Member of Parliament Datuk Rosol Wahid, Anwar clarified that the decision to remove the ceiling prices on chicken and eggs was made during Budget 2024, signifying it as government policy, and avoiding any flip-flopping on the government’s stance.
“What happened in June was that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security merely continued the decision to stop subsidising the prices of chicken and eggs, as previously determined. Upon receiving an appeal, I acknowledged that the government lacked a clear policy to address this issue, and therefore, the decision was made to continue subsidising.”
Back in June, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, through a parliamentary reply, had indicated that the government would deregulate the prices of chicken and eggs starting July 1 after discontinuing subsidies. But just a day later, in an about-turn, Putrajaya decided to maintain the subsidies and price control mechanism for chicken and eggs.
Meanwhile, Anwar insists that the “Maha Kaya” (ultra-rich) should not benefit from the subsidies provided by the government.
“A few MPs raised the issue of ‘Maha Kaya’ in Dewan Rakyat. This is not about being anti-‘Maha Kaya’. The government is not imposing any additional taxes on them. What I mean is that subsidies should not be extended to the ‘Maha Kaya’,” Anwar said.
According to Anwar, the government has spent RM3.7 billion on subsidising chicken and egg prices since 2022, with 3.5 million foreigners also benefiting from this blanket subsidy system.
“In this context, we want to ensure that the RM3.7 billion subsidy genuinely benefits those in need, and the government has decided that it’s time to allow chicken and egg prices to fluctuate.”
In response to another supplementary question from Paya Besar MP Mohd Shahar Abdullah regarding whether the government will consider adopting a cash transfer method for implementing targeted subsidies, Anwar said the cash transfer method is still under consideration by the Ministry of Finance and could potentially be implemented in other areas of business.
