WHEN it comes to controlling prices, it is always a headache for policy makers, for it is not an easy task to mitigate the global impact on daily necessities such as food and energy. External implications on local prices are not something that can be tackled easily without incurring huge costs.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has likened fuel subsidies to “opium” for the Malaysian economy and must be reduced gradually to bring the country’s budget deficit under control.
Malaysians had indeed been “addicted” to cheap commodity prices when people around the globe were paying much higher prices, and Malaysians must learn to break free from this “addiction for subsidies” for the country to grow. It will be painful and people will fume and protest but as with Singapore, Hong Kong and even Indonesia, steps have to be taken and soon.
Even Idris Jala had recently made the shocking statement about Malaysia going bankrupt in another decade if subsidies were not cut back.
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