Anwar said competition must be encouraged instead to enable lower prices and ensure consumers are not burdened by high living expenses.

“We (the government) are looking for ways to break monopolies,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Anwar said there were no monopolies in the water supply sector as it was under each state’s jurisdiction.

He said monopolies were also absent in the electricity supply sector, with a number of independent power producers operating, as well as in the highway maintenance sector.

He was responding to a question from Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) on whether the government would dismantle other monopolies in sectors such as electricity and water supply, and highway maintenance.

On March 24, Anwar said the government was reviewing all monopolies that currently exist to ensure that the public enjoys fair and better service.

He said all ministries had been instructed to study the rationale behind allowing monopolies so that there would be a fair assessment of the issue.