KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 – The government needs to regulate the rise in prices of goods to mitigate inflation risks, said an economist.
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Malaysia director of external relations Dr Zokhri Idris said regulation on the part of government and the relevant authorities is to mitigate rising prices to avoid “hyper inflation”.
He said regulations were needed to avoid a sharp spike in prices and to ensure that the government can control the inflation rate.
“For example, what the authorities can do is to regulate oil subsidies because we know that oil and the cost of raw materials such as fuel are very important cost components of the final product.
“We need to see how our various efforts can result in reducing inflation risks so that (this issue) does not become excessively worrying, that the situation is unsalvageable,” he said during an interview on Bernama TV’s ‘Ruang Bicara’ programme entitled “Living with Inflation” tonight.
Zokhri said the government and the authorities need to take proactive steps in monitoring the price increases to prevent abuse or manipulation by certain parties.
“We have to trace a product’s path from the beginning until it reaches the consumer and see how we can minimise the cost,” he said.
Meanwhile, economic analyst Associate Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Saari said short-term intervention measures by the government and authorities in the food products sector should not disrupt the market.
Therefore, long-term intervention is needed to ensure that price manipulation by certain parties can be resolved.
“The government must also have measures to protect the low-income group, for example, introduce kedai rakyat (people’s shops) offering affordable prices as an option to bring relief to communities impacted by price increases,” he said.
