‘Two weeks for council to prepare targeted subsidy proposal’
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has set a two-week deadline for the National Action Council on the Cost of Living (Naccol) to come up with a proposal on targeted subsidies and their implications, following a meeting yesterday.
He said that the distribution of government subsidies should be carried out in a targeted manner to ensure that they benefit only those who really need them.
“I have given a period of two weeks to dissect, go through all the implications and discuss with the private sector, investors so that they understand the purpose of the subsidy is to ease the burden of the poor,” he said during a press conference here.
He said that everything must be streamlined before the matter is brought before Cabinet, which is expected to be formed within the same time frame.
Earlier yesterday, Anwar chaired a special meeting of the 2022 National Action Council on the Cost of Living, which was attended by government departments and agencies to discuss inflation and how it is affecting Malaysians.
Among the high-ranking government officials present were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, officials from the Department of Statistics, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries, and Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.
Last Friday, in his first press conference after starting his official duties, Anwar stressed that the issue of the rising cost of living would be given priority by his unity government to alleviate the burden shouldered by the people.
Meanwhile, Anwar said he had asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries through the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority to take steps to control the cost of food production.
“I also want to thank the industry because it seems to have succeeded in providing enough chicken eggs in the market,” he