[UPDATED] Out with the old: Anwar slams poor measures in tackling inflation

KUALA LUMPUR – The current government programmes to manage inflation and rising goods prices are not helping the people, said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Port Dickson–PH).  

He said given the current economic crisis, the government’s old approaches, such as conducting Jualan Keluarga Malaysia programmes and subsidising packet cooking oil, are not feasible.  

“The problem we have now is more complicated. We have a rising poverty level not only in the rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak, but the urban poor has also increased tremendously. 

“This is the people’s problem now…what is the government doing to effectively address this problem?”

This came as Anwar was dissatisfied with the answer given by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (Jeli-PN) on the latest statistics of B40, M40 and T20.

Mustapa said the government has been conducting programmes to help ease the people’s financial burden, including one that involves giving out cards to purchase discounted food items.  

He added that the government will improve its delivery system, and has been doing its best to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and between income groups.  

Earlier, Mustapa said the inflation rate in Malaysia had increased from 4.4% (July) to 4.7% in August. – The Vibes, October 3, 2022