KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — There have been no unusual price increases detected following the diesel subsidy rationalisation on June 10, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said that through Ops Kesan, the Enforcement Division conducted 14,195 inspections of premises to prevent profiteering.
“Additionally, the National Price of Goods Division monitors 418 types of daily necessities and has not observed any abnormal price fluctuations,” she said during the question-and-answer session.
Fuziah was responding to Hulu Terengganu MP Datuk Rosol Wahid's query about the impact of diesel subsidy rationalisation on the prices of goods and living costs.
To a supplementary question from Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun on whether the government conducts daily or weekly inspections, she said KPDN deploys 2,200 enforcement officers and 900 price monitoring officers daily to monitor and collect stock-keeping unit (SKU) price data.
“Since May 2, nearly a month before the targeted subsidy was implemented, enforcement officers have been on the ground gathering information on prices, and to date, they have recorded 14,729 SKUs for us to make comparisons.
“Fluctuations are common in an open economy… what we are looking for are elements of profiteering and unreasonable price hikes,” Fuziah said.
Out of the 14,195 premises inspected, 243 notices were issued requesting explanations for unreasonable price increases.
“This shows that we are taking action. We have summoned 17 companies to the ministry to explain why they raised prices without valid reasons, and we have also opened investigation papers,” she said.
— Bernama
