BATU KAWAN, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) hopes that allocations related to subsidies, consumer affairs and the people’s well-being will continue to receive due attention in Budget 2027, despite the Government facing fiscal challenges following the rising cost of fuel subsidies.
Its minister, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the allocations were important to enable KPDN to effectively carry out its responsibilities, particularly in ensuring the stability of supply and prices of goods.
He said KPDN hoped that subsidy allocations under the ministry, including through the Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS), cooking oil subsidies and the Price Standardisation Programme for Sabah and Sarawak, could be maintained.
“Most importantly for us now, amid such major challenges, is to ensure that consumer subsidies can be maintained.
“For example, this year alone, under Budget 2026, only RM15 billion was actually allocated for fuel subsidies, but now the fiscal space that needs to be used for fuel subsidies has almost reached RM40 billion. That is an increase of almost threefold. So, that is one of the challenges,” he told reporters at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Jom Malaysia Festival in Penang at the Batu Kawan State Stadium here today.
Armizan said KPDN had submitted its applications and several key areas for consideration by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) under Budget 2027, taking into account current needs and the country’s fiscal capacity.
However, he said the Government’s reforms through targeted subsidy implementation had enabled subsidies to continue being channelled to the people despite rising costs.
He said mechanisms such as SKDS and BUDI Diesel enabled fuel subsidies to continue being channelled to eligible groups, while the subsidised packet cooking oil programme could also be maintained despite an increase in crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
He said KPDN would continue working with MOF and the relevant ministries to ensure that every allocation provided was utilised optimally and in a targeted manner, while delivering direct benefits to the people.
Meanwhile, Armizan said the cost-of-living issue cut across various ministries and would also be addressed at the National Cost of Living Action Council (NACCOL) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 29.
He said that through the eight clusters under NACCOL, the ministries involved would be given an opportunity to propose new initiatives or recommendations to strengthen existing initiatives to address cost-of-living issues.
-- BERNAMA