PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob should dissolve the Special Task Force on Jihad against Inflation led by Annuar Musa for being ineffective, incompetent and irrelevant in stemming rising prices, Lim Guan Eng said. 

The DAP lawmaker made the call after Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to hike up its overnight policy rate (OPR) for the third time in the row this year by 25 basis points from 2.25% to 2.5%, principally to stem inflation.

“Inflation is seen by BNM as still sufficiently serious enough to warrant hiking up the OPR despite the inherent risks in sacrificing economic growth and Covid-19 recovery efforts for the second half of the year and increasing borrowing costs for individuals and businesses,” the former finance minister said.  

“Raising the OPR is no different from comprehensively repudiating task force chairman Annuar Musa’s claims that inflation and soaring food prices is slowly under control, as baseless and mere political sloganeering.

“BNM has indirectly dismissed Annuar Musa’s anti-inflation efforts as of no consequence with the consumer price index rising by 4.4% in July compared with 3.4% in June, the month that Annuar was first appointed as chairman,” he added. 

Yesterday, BNM raised the OPR by 25 basis points to 2.5%.

This is the central bank’s third consecutive rate hike.

It raised the OPR to 2% from 1.75% in May. In July, it was by another 25 basis points to 2.25%.

Lim, who is also Bagan MP, said, since BNM is now relying on the monetary tool of raising interest rate to fight inflation there is no necessity to retain the task force. 

He said such a special cabinet committee will only have a role to play if it is chaired by the prime minister himself. 

In June, Ismail set up the task force to help Malaysian families face the rising cost of living.

Besides Annuar Musa, members in the task force include Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Ronald Kiandee, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed and Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali. – September 9, 2022.