Malaysia’s food and goods prices remain stable despite global supply chain pressures, says Akmal Nasrullah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — Malaysia’s overall price trend for goods and food items remains stable despite mounting global supply chain disruptions and rising energy prices, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said today.

Speaking after the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) meeting, Akmal Nasrullah said Putrajaya’s continued monitoring and intervention measures had so far helped prevent broader inflationary pressures from spilling into daily household spending.

“We’ve noticed the trend of food item prices is still stable. The average price of selected food items that were monitored from May 11 until May 17 hovered between -3.8 per cent to 4.7 per cent compared to last week.

“This development shows that the government is playing its role through monitoring and intervention measures in order to reduce cost of living pressures,” he said.

“In addition, to increase transparency and preparedness among the public the Global Supply Crisis Monitoring Dashboard has been uploaded and can be accessed by the public through the Economy Ministry’s website since May 15.”

He noted that although Malaysia’s inflation rate rose slightly to 1.9 per cent in April from 1.7 per cent in March, the increase remained manageable and concentrated mainly in transportation-related components.

The rise was largely attributed to higher fuel prices, particularly diesel and RON97 petrol, amid global energy market uncertainty.

Akmal Nasrullah said inflationary pressures had yet to spread widely across core household expenses, with major categories such as food and beverages as well as housing remaining largely under control.

He added that the government was continuing to prioritise food security, energy supply and price controls as part of its broader response to the ongoing global supply crisis.

Among the government’s key priorities, he said, were ensuring sufficient supply of food, fuel, medicines and essential goods, while also tightening subsidy leakages and preventing excessive price increases from being passed on to consumers.

He said the government would continue engaging industry groups, businesses and enforcement agencies before finalising any major policy decisions linked to the crisis response.