KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 ― The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) today cautioned consumers on a potential 10 per cent rise in prices of daily essentials, should the cost of food and non-food items are not kept in check, news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

FMM's president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said that this was based on an FMM survey conducted in December last year on the impact of price hikes on items which include bread, eggs, diapers and detergents, adding that unless immediate action is taken to prevent the rise in prices, a huge number of manufacturers surveyed, planned to roll the costs to consumers.

"More than two-thirds of the companies we surveyed are expecting to pass the increase in costs of between one to 10 per cent to consumers.

"Fortunately, two-thirds of the respondents have taken proactive action to cut costs internally and switch to cheaper inputs where available,” Soh told the FMT.

He added that the hike in prices is due to the Covid-19 pandemic which led to supply chain bottlenecks, higher cost of logistics, increasing commodity prices and energy and labour shortage globally.

Soh reportedly said that multinational corporations in Malaysia have also begun substituting imported items by buying local products.

"Any increase in prices for manufacturers would have a multiplier impact on the economy,” said Soh.