KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir has today said that the price of chicken is stabilising, amid concerns over rising prices of goods.

The deputy local government development minister said this resulted from the fall in poultry inflation rate to 0.9 per cent in September compared to 5.7 per cent in August.

"If we make a comparison, for instance, in August, in terms of chicken meat, the inflation rate at that time was 5.7 per cent but if we compare it to September, it has already decreased by 0.9 per cent.

"In reality, the price is stabilising,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during the Minister’s Question Time here.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Rantau Panjang MP Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff on the government’s effort to curb the depreciation of the ringgit to prevent it from further plummeting and affecting the rise in prices of basic goods such as poultry.

Akmal added the government is taking a more consistent approach to ensure price stability, as it is one of the biggest public concerns.

Additionally, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) MP said the Bank Negara Malaysia is currently monitoring the ringgit and would be adjusting the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) to regulate the exchange rate.

"We understand that there can be effects in terms of differences when we import goods from abroad. First, we also look at the economic indicators. Besides the currency value, we can see that the current inflation rate is low.

‘Second, we also see that the unemployment rate has actually decreased compared to the previous year,” he said, while adding that there have been improvements in the economic situation.

During his Budget 2024 speech, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the temporary ceiling price imposed for chickens and eggs will be waived to allow room for the market to freely manoeuvre in ensuring uninterrupted supply.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the present trend revealed that the supply of eggs and chicken has stabilised and the present retail price is far below the controlled ceiling price.

Anwar said with the rationalisation of targeted subsidies set to be implemented next year, savings from the rationalisation exercise will be channelled directly to increase allocations of cash aids under the Rahmah Cash Aid initiative.