Malaysians in the M40 group, those with household monthly income between RM4,851 to RM10,970, feel forgotten and abandoned by the Federal government following the withdrawal of cooking oil(except for 1kg packs), eggs and chicken subsidies effective today. Following the removal of subsidies, a 5kg Vesawit Cooking oil that cost RM28 before now cost RM41/-, a 43% increase.
Such a huge jump belies the fact that the increase in Consumer Price Index or inflation rate of 2.8% in May 2022 does not reflect the actual situation on the ground. The increase in the Producer Price Index (PPI) local production, which measures the costs of goods at the factory gate, of 11.2% in May 2022 compared with 11% in April 2022, is probably more accurate.
B40 households earning up to RM4,850 a month get a small financial help from the government to cope with the removal of these subsidies of RM100 per household and RM 50 for singles. For M40, they get nothing. The government should provide some assistance bearing in mind that like those in B40, many in the M40 spend more than 25% of their disposable income on food.
Lest we forget the incomes of Malaysians are also eroded by the steep decline in the value of the ringgit that depreciated to historic lows against the Singapore and US dollar, two of our three biggest trading partners. Equally dire is the economic recession and COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has unfortunately caused more than 580,000 M40 households to slip back into the B40 category.
SMEs face the same predicament in not getting sufficient assistance from the government to meet rising prices. SMEs’ costs are further compounded by acute labour shortages caused by Ministerial incompetence and bureaucratic red-tape. Why impose additional hardships on SMEs when this acute labour shortage can be easily resolved with a stroke of the Ministerial pen?
The Federal government must not betray their national duty to assist both the M40 and SMEs.