KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government will hold a briefing led by the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry for state governments to ensure early preparations to address El Nino’s impact.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the matter was decided by the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) to address the phenomenon, which is expected to continue to mid-2027.
"The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has also activated early preparedness measures including 24-hour weather monitoring, weather warning announcements, the preparation of a fire hazard rating system as well as readiness to implement Cloud Seeding Operations if the situation is urgent," he said at the Global Supply Crisis Briefing on Thursday (June 11).
Akmal Nasrullah said El Nino has the potential to bring warmer weather and a significantly reduced rainfall of between 40% and 60% in several states.
He said the situation poses risks to the economy, water supplies, public health, food crops and commodities with increases to haze levels and energy demand.
Akmal Nasrullah said that when the country faced such weather in 2015 and 2016, high temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius forced 250 schools to close in the northern peninsula and plummeted palm oil production by 16% to 18%
On a separate note, he said the total labour force increased to 17.33 million people while the working population increased to 16.82 million people in April, with the labour force participation rate remaining strong at 70.9%.
"The unemployment rate recorded 3% involving 511,800 people. Although there was a slight increase compared to the previous month, the majority of the unemployed, which is 79.5%, are still actively looking for jobs," he said.
Based on data on benefit applications under the Employment Insurance System (EIS) of the Social Security Organisation (PERKESO), Akmal Nasrullah said a total of 7,766 workers lost their jobs in May compared to 7,162 workers in April.
At the same time, he said there was a positive development in terms of job placement with MYFutureJobs data showing job placements increased by 19%, from 12,119 placements in April 2026 to 14,366 placements in May 2026, including job seekers through the MYFutureJobs portal and those receiving EIS benefits.
He said the government would continue to monitor the issue of job losses and strengthen job matching efforts so that affected workers could return to work faster and household incomes continued to be protected.
Regarding the health sector, Akmal Nasrullah reiterated the government's commitment to strengthening buffer stocks, expanding supply sources and expediting access to critical medicines when needed.
He said among the actions that had been taken included the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Health Ministry through the Medical Devices Authority with Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on June 8 in conjunction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's official visit to the country.
In addition, based on the Health Ministry’s monitoring until May 8, Akmal Nasrullah said 72% of medicine items’ were at low risk while 81.7% of medical devices were at a low risk level.
Regarding the one-off provision of an advance of Ploughing Incentive to Farmers of RM200 per hectare to farmers in the Peninsula who started padi planting in season one of 2026, Akmal Nasrullah said that to date, 90% or almost 180,000 farmers have received payment. - Bernama
