THE weekly cabinet meeting will be brought forward to tomorrow to discuss cost of living and food supply issues, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, along with the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry would brief the cabinet on these issues, including short- and long-term plans to overcome these problems.

“So, on Monday I’m calling a cabinet meeting to specifically look into how we can balance this sudden increase in food prices. I’ve asked both ministries to present reports,” he told a press conference after opening the Symposium on Internationalisation of Bahasa Melayu at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in Kuala Lumpur today.

Ismail said the anticipated increase in cost of living is a global phenomenon due to, among others, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic, which have affected food production and supply.

The prime minister also said apart from the approved permit (AP) for food imports, the government is also studying the possibility of abolishing other types of APs to ease the pressure arising from shortages of other goods.

“We hope that by abolishing APs we can at least reduce the pressure faced in terms of supply of goods, and maybe many quarters concerned can reduce prices. But we need to wait to see its effects,” he added.

On Wednesday, Ismail said the government had decided to abolish the AP for food imports with immediate effect. – Bernama, May 22, 2022.