Dept Minister Says Prices of Goods Will Increase Due to Covid, Russian-Ukraine War & New Minimum Wage

The recent announcement that the Federal Government approved the increase in minimum wage to RM1,500 monthly starting 1 May 2022 was generally met with praise.

However, it seems that it might not result in everything good. Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Rosol Wahid believes that it might be one of the factors that would result in a hike in the prices of goods.

“We admit that there will be an increase in the price of the goods due to various factors, including Covid-19, transportation, the foreign exchange rate, the Russian-Ukraine war and also the floods,” he explained.

“Even the announcement of the new minimum wage of RM1,500 is feared to be another contributing factor.”

Meanwhile, he warned suppliers and traders against excessive price hiking as they would risk facing stern actions taken against them.

Rosol stated that each and every case of excessive price increases will be investigated thoroughly to prevent excessive profiteering activities by any parties.

“With regards to the price increase, there is no single way to curb the issue as it is a global phenomenon that affected the whole world. What the government can do is to subsidise the goods,” he added.

He also said that 1,000 price monitoring officers will monitor business activities across the country.

Utusan had earlier reported that bazaars Ramadan traders and traders associations in Kedah, Selangor, Perak dan Negeri Sembilan had stated that they will have to raise the prices of their menus to cover the cost of increasing goods.

However, Rosol reminded the traders to be mindful not to burden the consumers or face being taken action under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act (AKHAP) 2011.

Do you think that those factors justifies an increase in the price of goods? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: JUST IN: PM Approves RM1,500 Minimum Wage In Malaysia, To Be Implemented On 1 May 2022