THE subsidy programme for packet cooking oil next year will not only be limited to households, but will also include distribution to micro traders, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh said currently, the subsidy system for essential goods is a bulk subsidy, which is implemented under the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme System and it stops at the retailer level.

She said that the bulk subsidy system was inherited from the previous administration, and the unity government will improve the system by expanding it to the consumer level to prevent leakage.

“The ministry sees that those who should receive this subsidy are the B40 group and some of the M40 group. It is estimated that 5.8 million households will be eligible to receive this subsidy once the government implements it.

“Previously when we (implemented) bulk subsidies, we also did not target them to reach micro traders. So, in future, the ministry will target micro traders, because they also need this cooking oil subsidy,” she said, during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

Fuziah was replying to a supplementary question from Johari Abdul Ghani (Titiwangsa-BN), about whether the government will continue the cooking oil bulk subsidy, and whether the government is prepared to use a cash transfer method to avoid leakage of subsidy distribution of essential goods.

She said the proposed cash transfer to consumers for the purchase of packet cooking oil may be the best solution, but the implementation mechanism requires further research.

Previously, Fuziah said the provision of bulk cooking oil subsidies made it difficult for the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry to control foreigners buying essential goods, and there were no regulations prohibiting that group from buying packet cooking oil.

Therefore, she said that the new policy of targeted subsidies, based on the government’s Central Database System, involving distribution to the B40 group, part of the M40 and micro-traders, can guarantee a sufficient supply quota of 60,000 tonnes of packet cooking oil per month. – Bernama, November 27, 2023.