A PERMANENT secretariat, led by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living together with the Ministry of Economy will be established in the near future to address issues related to people’s cost of living, according to Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Salahuddin Ayub.

He said the establishment of the secretariat was due to the fact that his ministry cannot handle the work alone.

The secretariat, which will be headed by the secretaries-general of the two ministries and comprise officials from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and the economic planning unit, will present a comprehensive plan to deal with the cost of living, he said.

“We agreed to establish a permanent secretariat for these two ministries, which will, at any time, be able to hold meetings, meetings, engagements, seminars, workshops and the like so that we can move forward more efficiently,” he said in Putrajaya today.

Prior to which, Salahuddin held a two-hour meeting with Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, which was also attended by DOSM and EPU officials.

Describing the meeting as fruitful, Salahuddin said that several things were discussed, including the implementation of short and long-term programmes related to the cost of living, which the two ministries should address.

Next, he plans to hold engagement sessions with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Local Government Development, as well as other ministries which are members of the national action council on the cost of living.

Salahuddin said that the feedback received from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security showed that food supplies are sufficient to see the nation through the Christmas celebration.

“Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living will continue to monitor the stability of goods in the market, and will continue to monitor the price control scheme for the Christmas celebration,” he said. – Bernama, December 22, 2022.