KUALA LUMPUR: The inflation rate is expected to rise marginally in 2024; however, it is manageable with the cooperation of industry players, traders, and consumers, according to the Ministry of Economy.
The Finance Ministry’s Economic Outlook 2004 report projected that the inflation rate for this year is expected to be 2.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent.
“This situation is partly due to the expected gradual transition towards a targeted subsidy implementation mechanism to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.
“This percentage increase is within the range projected by MIDF Research for the year 2024, which is 3.2 per cent,” said the Ministry of Economy in a written reply published on the Parliament website yesterday.
The ministry was responding to a question from Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu) regarding initiatives to deal with the inflation rate following MIDF Research’s expectation that Malaysia’s inflation rate this year will increase to 3.2 per cent.
It said the government’s fiscal position is increasingly challenging and requires a commitment to retarget subsidies, which are among the key components of the operating budget.
“However, the welfare of the people as a whole needs to be prioritised.
“Thus, the government needs to choose a subsidy retargeting method that can balance the government’s goal to improve the fiscal position and at the same time reduce the people’s cost of living,” said the ministry.
It also said that the government has identified several programmes and initiatives to ensure the welfare of the people is preserved, said the ministry.
Among the initiatives are increasing the total value of the 2024 Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) to RM10 billion, ensuring the food supply and food security by increasing the stock of various food items, as well as improving distribution efficiency to ensure uninterrupted supply.
The government will also continue with the Payung Rahmah initiative, including the Jualan Rahmah, Bakul Rahmah and Menu Rahmah programmes, to reduce living costs while increasing monitoring and enforcement to curb excessive profit-making activities.-Bernama