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FMT had reported Economic Minister Rafizi Ramli saying that while the cost of various ingredients had declined, the prices of food at some restaurants and stalls continued to increase. Rafizi advised consumers to avoid food outlets that charged unreasonable prices.
It baffles how Rafizi expects the restaurant owners to bring down food prices if their buying prices are not coming down after it has gone up.
For example, previously 1 kg of Ikan Nyor used to be around RM 12 per kilogram but today, 1 kg is RM34. Ikan Jenahak is priced at RM43 per kg today when it used to be RM 16 - 18 per kg. The list of food impacted by this price hike extends to other types of fish and mutton as well.
What Rafizi has failed to take into consideration is that when food prices go up when currency values go up. You can almost hear murmurs from the food and beverages owners as to how the Ukraine war and USA Dollar rates are affecting their prices. But when the Ukraine war impacts are minimised and the USD rate improves, the same owners seem to keep mum and seem to be comfortable maintaining the same prices. What is the logic behind these no one knows but what I am sure needs to be done is better supervision and spot checks by KPDNKK and its relevant agencies.
Clearly, KPDNKK has to play an active role in curbing up enforcement to make sure price control is carried out effectively to ensure end buyers do not suffer. This way it will ensure that If restaurant owners are increasing their food prices it means they got no choice because the purchase prices have gone up and not to increase their margin of profit.
Therefore, Rafizi, should stop giving excuses and look into the basic roots of necessities which can be improved for the rakyat. He needs to understand if restaurant prices are high, he needs to check what is the cause and how the government can control this
As an economic minister, stop talking about demand and supply, which everyone knows because these are basic economic rules. Kindly present and implement policies on how we can overcome the price increases on imported products and check why the prices of local products are soaring as well. After all, wasn’t this very Rafizi famous for, his formulas for everything when he was in the Opposition before this?
Above all, it is irresponsible for Rafizi to urge the people to boycott food eateries is illogical and not a solution. It is like Rafizi is asking people to help atone for his lack of ability to come up with a solution.
Chandrakumanan A is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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