PUTRAJAYA (Jan 10): The mechanism for controlling prices of goods and setting ceiling prices will be reviewed soon, said Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub.

"We will definitely review it soon, because it has been a year (with maximum prices set)," he told a press conference after delivering the ministry’s 2023 New Year’s Address here on Tuesday (Jan 10).

The Federation of Malaysian Retailers Association recently raised that the Government should re-evaluate the price control mechanism, which is considered to be out of date and had resulted in short supply of controlled goods in the market, such as eggs, sugar and cooking oil.

The association also suggested that the Government consider floating the prices according to the market, but at the same time, provide purchase coupons or discounts to target groups.

On the "Payung Rahmah" initiative, which includes the "Bakul Rahmah", "Jualan Rahmah", "Kafe Rahmah" and "Pakej Rahmah" programmes to reduce the cost of living, Salahuddin said his ministry will focus on its implementation for the hardcore poor.

According to him, the Department of Statistics Malaysia's data as of Dec 31, 2022 showed that there were 130,000 poor household heads in the country.

In a separate development, he denied that there is no packet cooking oil in the market as claimed by some parties, but assured that ministry officials will act immediately if there are complaints about a lack of supply.

Earlier in his speech, Salahuddin also announced several other offers, among them that the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) will give a 90% compound reduction from the original value of the compound on companies with "dissolved" status under the Companies Act 1965.

SSM will also continue to reduce the compound by 90% of the original compound value for regular offences under the Companies Act 2016, he said.