THE Finance Ministry today gave RM20 million to the Domestic Trade and Consumers Ministry to be used for the “Buy Malaysian Products” campaign to support local products and services.

The amount was allocated under Budget 2019 and handed over by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to Domestic Trade and Consumers Minister Saifuddin Nasution today.

Lim said the steps introduced by Putrajaya are to ensure the cost of living is controlled, and to enhance the people’s purchasing power.

“The ‘Beli Barangan Malaysia’ campaign will prepare a platform for local manufacturers and service providers to access hypermarkets, shopping complexes, and trading expos so that local products and services can be marketed to more users nationwide,” he told reporters during the cheque presentation ceremony in the Finance Ministry building today.

Also present were Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumers Minister Chong Chieng Jen.

Lim said based on the consumer price index, the inflation rate for 2018 was 1% while the rate in 2017 was 3.7%.

“The 1% rate was the lowest it reached within nine months and proved that the increase in price after the sales and services tax (SST) was reintroduced is smaller compared with the rate when the goods and services tax (GST) was implemented, which was 2.7%.

“The government will ensure the people can enjoy the low CPI and the price increase will be controlled, especially for basic items where the prices have increased more than the CPI rate,” said Lim.

He said the initiatives are also meant to reduce the price of basic necessities to lessen the people’s burden.

“The 11.3% increase in the collection of direct tax compared with 2017 amidst the uncertain global economy will boost confidence in the economic growth.

“It will also help cover the government’s revenue shortfall when SST replaces GST.” – January 30, 2019.