The government of Malaysia to have a mechanism to stabilize sugar supply and price in the second quarter

KOTA KINABALU (April 9): The government will decide on the mechanism to stabilise sugar supply and pricing in the second quarter of this year (2Q2024), said Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali. He said one mechanism under consideration is maintaining stockpiles to ensure an uninterrupted sugar supply. For instance, the government may hold one or two months' worth of stock for Sabah, where the monthly demand averages around 4,700 tonnes. He did not rule out the possibility that the government would consider providing subsidies or raising the controlled price from the current RM2.85 per kilogramme. However, he said any decision made by the government will not burden the people. "It's not easy to make this decision. For example, if we want to raise the controlled price, it will affect the people's cost of living. Having stockpiles is good, because if the sugar supply arrives late, we would still have stock, but this also involves a high allocation. "Two ...