PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya will continue to subsidise the prices of chicken and eggs after June 30, the government has announced.
The agriculture and food security as well as domestic trade and cost of living ministries said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed with their proposal to continue subsidising the prices of chicken and eggs.
“This decision to continue giving the subsidies was taken to ensure the people’s welfare is preserved,” the ministries said in a joint statement today.
On Wednesday, agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said the prices of eggs and chicken in the market will be floated from July 1.
In a written Dewan Rakyat reply, Mohamad said government subsidies for eggs and chicken would end after June 30, adding that the domestic trade and cost of living ministry would control the prices of these two items.
He said the ministry would also lift the ban on exporting day-old chicks, whole chicken and chicken parts from July 1 and allow the import of eggs and chicken from recognised source countries.
This was to ensure a stable supply of the two items in the market after the subsidies ended.
In February, Mohamad had said Putrajaya planned to float the prices of eggs and chicken after June.
He had said then that subsidising chicken eggs until June would cost the government some RM1.28 billion.
The current retail price ceiling for a standard chicken is RM9.40 per kg while the price for eggs are Grade A (45 sen per egg), Grade B (43 sen per egg) and Grade C (41 sen per egg) in the peninsula.
In Langkawi, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, the maximum price for both items differ according to the respective zones and districts.
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