KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): The Malaysian Government will continue to manage prices of basic items to mitigate inflation, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said.

Johari said the list excluded commodity-related items, such as products linked to crude oil. 

"Some things that are related to external factors such as oil prices, that thing is beyond us. We cannot really control something that is related to commodities, for example,” Johari told reporters, after the opening ceremony of the Global Offset and Countertrade Association Asia Pacific Conference 2017 here today.

Last Friday, the Statistics Department said the country's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose 4.5% in February from a year earlier, led by a significant increase in transport prices amid costlier fuel. 

According to the department, the CPI's transport segment increased 17.9% in February, after rising 8.3% in January.