KOTA KINABALU: A proactive price control strategy has kept prices of essential goods under control in the country, says Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Deputy Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe.
She was confident price controls introduced by the government would help meet the socio-economomic objectives of both urban and rural dwellers.
The government would continue subsidising the price of certain essentials in order to keep them in check, Tan said in her speech at a dialogue on essential goods here yesterday.
The text of her speech was delivered, on her behalf, by the ministry’s Deputy Secretary-General Mahani Tan Abdullah.
She said last year, the government spent RM10 billion to subsidise the price of essential goods.
The Deputy Minister said the government had taken several steps to handle rising prices of essentials which included the establishment of a committee on price and supply, a price slash campaign and dialogue sessions with various trade and industry associations. — Bernama