Apurva Sanghi said although the move can “slightly” control the hike in prices, continuing the export ban on consumer goods over the long term will hurt the country and the economy, doing more harm than good.
Giving an example, he said the chicken export ban has caused a domino effect, one of which is the chicken shortage in Singapore.
There have been reports that Singapore is seeking to source chickens from other countries other than Malaysia, for example Brazil.
Malaysian producers will be denied a wider market and a higher price for their products as a result, he said.
When producers are denied from benefiting from higher prices, they will reduce investments domestically.
“There are also the poor who rely on farming and they will be hurt in the process because the benefit from lower prices is outweighed by their declining income, while the average income of a farming household in Malaysia is less than the typical B40,” he said.
Sanghi was speaking at an online press conference, held in conjunction with the launch of the Malaysia Economic Monitor report titled “Catching Up: Inclusive Recovery and Growth for Lagging States” in Kota Kinabalu on June 16.
Also present was World Bank country manager for Malaysia Yasuhiko Matsuda.
Sanghi said it was interesting that 88% of agricultural projects in Malaysia focused on rice.
He said 40-45% of subsidies went towards rice imports, and rice production in Malaysia is falling. So the provision of subsidies is something that has to be looked into.
He also said the war in Ukraine has shown that Malaysia has to look for alternatives for products that have been affected by the war, like fertilisers, in order to lower food production costs.
Matsuda said investments in public infrastructure and human capital are vital for states such as Sabah and Kelantan if their economies were to recover well in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era.
He said Sabah is an agricultural producer and over the long run, it could diversify and catch up with industrialisation, and attract more investments from other countries.