Are We Short of Rice?

Local rice has gone missing. A Federal investigation is required? Not just consumers are wondering, wholesalers and retailers too. If we produce 70 per cent, it must be in the shops. But it is not there.

The owner of the Mydin Hypermarket chain and president of the Bumiputera Retailers Organisation, says local rice had disappeared a couple of months ago. From hypermarkets to supermarkets to retailers are saying the supply of local rice has been negligible. This fits a Malaysian pattern. When prices of imported goods go up, local goods are "made" to disappear, only to reappear as imported ones. Is it greedy commerce?

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Local rice has a control price of RM26 per 10kg, while imported rice is being sold at RM33 per 10kg. A price difference of RM7 per bag is quite a temptation many find hard to resist. The price of imported rice is slated to be RM39 per 10kg shortly. There is also a rumour that a tycoon who has monopoly interest on rice is behind this.

And what is the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry's response? They have asked the millers and rice wholesalers to increase the local white rice supply by 20 per cent. The Prime Minister may have broad enough shoulders to bear the weight of the cabinet, but he can't do everything. So where is the Agriculture and Food Security Minister?

Bernas, which has a monopoly to import rice, said it has distributed 630,000 metric tonnes of white rice from January to August, a 38% increase compared to the average monthly sales over the past five years.

The Agriculture and Food Security Minister said the government will need a “strong reason” if it is to end Bernas’s monopoly on rice imports as it is bound by a 10-year agreement which runs from Jan 11, 2021 to Jan 10, 2031.

This is only rice. What about eggs?  Have you noticed there is a shortage of eggs? One retailer says he has not seen eggs for two weeks. Next, could be flour or sugar or salt. Then vegetables? All these are ingredients for a general and sustainable increase in prices – i.e. inflation. Meanwhile, the Government has a task force (or committee) on cost of living. Can the Madani Government remove price control and permit more than one player for supply of rice?

References:

NST Leader: Short of Rice? News Straits Times, 4 September 2023

Enough white rice, no need to use govt stockpile, says Bernas, FMT Reporters, FMT, 

28 September 2023