Rafizi said the government had implemented the Menu Rahmah initiative under the Payung Rahmah programme, targeted at helping the poor.
He said the government had also implemented the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) aimed at eradicating poverty and improving their income through agricultural, food business and services initiatives.
“When more food items are sold at lower prices, whether through Menu Rahmah or IPR, it would create competition that would reduce the prices of meals and, in turn, help the government in curbing inflation,” he said.
In conjunction with Ramadan, he said, the government had also introduced Bazar Ramadan Rahmah (BRR) under the domestic trade and cost of living ministry’s Payung Rahmah initiative at 38 locations nationwide.
BRR’s implementation came about from traders’ cooperation with the government to offer Menu Rahmah meals to help reduce the people’s cost of living.
Another initiative was the festive season price control scheme in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration in January. It covered eight items, including pomfret, white shrimp, garlic from China, pork belly, as well as lean and fatty pork.
In addition, the government had allocated RM200 million this year for the price standardisation programme, which aims at ensuring that rural folk, especially those in the hinterlands or islands, could enjoy seven essential items at the same prices as those living in the cities.
The items were white rice, coarse sugar, flour, cooking oil, liquefied petroleum gas, RON95 petrol and diesel.
To date, this has benefitted more than 1.2 million residents from 798 rural areas in Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.
Rafizi also pointed out that communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil had introduced the Unity Package prepaid mobile internet plan priced at RM30 a month.
It is aimed at providing internet access for youths, those from the lower income (B40) group, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and veterans from the armed forces and police.
Cash aid worth RM1.67 billion under Phase 1 of Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) had also been channelled to 8.7 million people in the B40 group since Jan 17.
“Based on the current situation, the inflation rate is expected to remain manageable at 2.8% to 3.8% in 2023 amid more stable prospects.
“The government is always committed to ensuring the national economy remains strong, resilient and sustainable to safeguard the people’s well-being,” he said.
Rafizi said the government’s efforts were focused on ensuring economic restructuring strategies and initiatives take into consideration the people’s needs.
“This is to ensure that the goal of becoming a high-income, inclusive and sustainable nation can be achieved,” he said.
In February, Malaysia’s consumer price index, which measures headline inflation, remained moderate at 3.7%, like the month before, after peaking at 4.7% in August 2022.