The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Safety (KPKM) and the National Action Council on the Cost of Living (NACCOL) until March 20 to resolve the issue of rice and paddy prices.
He also said that the government needs a little more time to set a reasonable price for these basic needs because the interests of both farmers and buyers need to be considered.
Looking at the policy, controlling the price of rice requires patience because it is necessary to go through several processes before making a decision.
The Prime Minister previously discussed with Bernas in a meeting with NACCOL to ask them to find a way to reduce imported rice and increase local production.
The main problem is in determining the ups and downs of rice prices. If it is increased, it will burden the buyers in the market. However, the act of reducing prices will have a negative impact on the income of farmers.
In order to ease the people's burden, he ordered the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) to intensify the Rahmah sales program and the Agro Madani Sales program temporarily pending the resolution of the price issue.
KPKM and KPDN are actively addressing the issue of cost of living and food prices, including increasing production.
Meanwhile, Anwar said all policy decisions taken by the government are for the benefit of the country and the people and they are not influenced by any other country.
