KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) has maintained the quota of 60,000 tonnes of subsidised packaged cooking oil per month in the market.
Its Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said this decision was made after data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia in 2022 showed that the monthly usage of packaged cooking oil for 80 per cent of the 7.9 million households was 30.3 million tonnes, while the micro-industry sector used 21,280 tonnes per month.
"Sixty thousand tonnes of packaged cooking oil is sufficient for us to distribute to households and the micro-industry sector," she said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Fuziah was responding to Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin's query on the amount of subsidy spent on the implementation of the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (eCOss) in 2024, and whether KPDN was prepared to increase the 60,000-tonne quota of subsidised packaged cooking oil in the retail market.
She added that the government has spent RM1.945 billion on the cooking oil price stabilisation scheme, with RM845 million allocated in Budget 2024 and RM1.1 billion allocated in a supplementary bill.
Similarly, KPDN is negotiating, in collaboration with relevant agencies, to develop a pilot project this year to allow consumers to purchase packaged cooking oil using an ID system.
"This system will be implemented to identify eligible Malaysian citizens who can access the supply, as well as to reduce issues of leakage," Fuziah said, responding to Tanjong Karang MP Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi's supplementary question, which asked if KPDN is prepared to provide cooking oil subsidies directly through MyKad.
Fuziah added that KPDN suspended the quotas for 16 subsidised cooking oil packaging companies and revoked the quotas for 30 other packaging companies in 2024 due to various violations and breaches of the quota holder's conditions.
— Bernama
