Senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said face masks are imported and because of that the government could not determine their prices.

“The ceiling price will be RM1.50. It will be 50 sen cheaper,” he told reporters today, adding that Putrajaya will continue to monitor the prices and make further announcements if the prices drop further.

As for hand sanitisers, he said the government could not set a ceiling price because of the different brands available in the market.

“Some are imported and some are locally made,” he said.

On March 26, Ismail had announced that 8.6 million households would receive face masks through state and district disaster management committees.

He said they would be distributed in stages.

The government had purchased 10 million face masks from China in view of the increasing  Covid-19 cases.

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