PUTRAJAYA: The government, through the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol), has agreed to reduce the retail price of imported white rice by RM2 to RM3 from Wednesday (March 20), says Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
The Agriculture and Food Security Minister added that the current price of imported white rice is RM38 to RM45 per 10kg pack, and is expected to drop to RM35 with the price adjustment, which was finalised at the Naccol meeting on Tuesday (March 19).
"The government is optimistic that this move will help Malaysians reduce their cost of living, especially during the Ramadan month and the upcoming festivities," he said, adding that the government also decided that all current rice stocks totalling 140,000 metric tons purchased by millers needed to be processed and made available to local markets immediately to boost rice distribution.
"My ministry will ramp up enforcement throughout the country, and to expand the distribution of imported white rice, the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) and the Farmers' Organisation Authority (FAO) will carry out more Agro Madani sales throughout the country," he said on Tuesday.
Mohamad also shared that the government had agreed that all government contracts would use imported white rice, and that would ensure that the additional 20,000 metric tons of imported white rice would be fully distributed by April.
"All these measures – lower rice prices and additional rice supply in the market – will boost the availability of rice to Malaysians," he said.
Mohamad also said that his ministry would continue discussions with stakeholders to fine-tune long-term action plan to craft a more realistic rice production cost structure to ensure that the rice industry is sustainable, especially in safeguarding the interests and welfare of rice farmers and boosting national rice production.
"This decision shows the strong commitment of the Madani government in preserving the welfare of the people and to strengthen the national food security agenda," he added. – Bernama
