Food and beverage price increases main causes of inflation, says Rafizi

 

PUTRAJAYA: Economy Minister Rafiji Ramli said rising prices of prepared food and beverages in restaurants and hotels were the main cause of inflation.

But he said the public would be able to control prices by becoming “more price conscious”.

Mr Rafizi said inflation had eased but did not reflect fees paid by consumers, especially cooked meals at restaurants.

“The government has taken several measures, including subsidizing chicken and egg prices, spending about RM2 billion to control prices.

“But [food price drops] haven’t happened yet. It’s important for us because the price of ready-to-eat food is a major driver of inflation. There is,” he said at the December 2022 CPI press conference in Menara Prisma.

He said he wants to ensure that the public gets the best value and encourages healthy competition among businesses in the market.

With this data, he said, the public would have a better understanding of the price paid compared to the actual cost of the goods.

He also said that if the public understood that commodity prices fluctuate, they would become more selective in their consumption.

“This (Development of Price Awareness) is part of Price Management.

Open Data Platform OpenDOSM Next Gen has a daily updated list of his 28 million commodity price data.

“We need the help and cooperation of the public not only to rely on governments to monitor prices at the macro level, but also to ensure that this data is used to become more aware of commodity price fluctuations.”

“Reducing or stabilizing inflation is also everyone’s responsibility”. This will keep commodity prices high and pressure on consumers.

Originally published at https://businessdor.com on January 25, 2023.