Deputy agriculture and food security minister Chan Foong Hin said the ministry would continue discussions, especially with the Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia, to discuss soft-landing steps before chicken and egg prices are floated.

“More details on this will be announced later,” he said in a statement today following the government announcement in the budget speech yesterday that price controls would be lifted two years after they were imposed.

Chan said price control was no longer relevant as supply had stabilised and the retail prices were now below the ceiling prices, Bernama reported.

He said Malaysia had long since reached self-sufficiency in poultry and eggs “but there were some disruptions in the supply chain at the end of last year”. However, the chicken and egg farming sector was now back to normal after government intervention.

Chan said the government had borne RM3.8 billion in subsidies for chicken and eggs since February last year.

He said subsidies in the agro-food sector should be rationalised so that the funds could be channelled to target groups more efficiently.