PUTRAJAYA: The Anti-Profiteering Act 2010, which was enforced last month, is set to curb indiscriminate increases in the prices of consumer goods.
Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said legal action could also be taken against traders who increased prices by more than what it should be.
Singling out the recent increase in the price of sugar as an example of how the Act was effective, he noted the increase was a mere 0.4 sen or 0.7 per cent.
Ismail Sabri was speaking to reporters after attending the first meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee on Supply and Prices.
On the high rate of subsidy for 2011, which stands at RM20.58 billion, he said the increase in the prices of goods was inevitable if there was a hike in oil prices.
A study had also been done on the effects of such an increase, he added.
On the committee, the minister said it would meet four times a year, in its role to study and submit methods to assist the government to control the impact of the increase in prices of goods, he said.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who chaired the meeting, said the government had estimated the subsidy figure to increase to RM20.58
billion as compared to RM10.32 billion last year, following a hike in global oil prices.
He pointed out that RM18 billion of the subsidy was allocated to petroleum products alone, such as RON 95, diesel and LPG.
— Bernama