He said, despite talks of an increase, the government has not decided on the matter, the New Straits Times reported.

“My ministry will be discussing the matter with the agriculture and food security ministry today and we will issue a statement as soon as possible,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier today, FMT quoted Mydin hypermarket managing director Ameer Ali Mydin as saying that the retail price of a 10kg bag of imported white rice will increase by at least RM1 next month.

He said this was on top of last month’s price hike of between RM1 and RM2 per bag for imported white rice.

Ameer said retailers were informed by suppliers of a further increase between RM1 to RM2 per 10kg bag and that this would obviously increase the retail selling price by another RM1 to RM2 per 10kg bag.

He attributed the price increase to a weakening of the ringgit as well as other hikes in costs, including for electricity and labour.