Pakatan: Government should cut expenses, not subsidies, to help Malaysians with rising prices
The federal government should institute immediate cost-cutting measures such as freezing all official trips abroad and suspending mega projects to free up funds to address Malaysia’s living cost crisis, said a Pakatan Harapan (PH) committee.
(MMO) – The coalition’s cost of living committee also suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration reduce the number of ministries and lower the salaries of Cabinet members as part of this austerity drive.
It said these measures should have been attempted first before revoking subsidies that would further expose Malaysians, especially the B40 income category, to rising prices they were already struggling to pay.
“We take very seriously the government’s move to revoke the food subsidies. We find the move half-baked, irresponsible and rushed, as it will only further burden the already struggling public.
“We want the government to rethink their strategies and return those subsidies before July 1 as by then the prices of essentials will rise,” the committee said in a statement today.
Aside from the cuts it proposed, it also recommended reducing the allowances of ministers and their deputies, especially those for holidays and travel abroad.
The PM should also terminate the appointment of his special envoys to the Middle East, India, China and the US who were each the equivalent of federal ministers and entitled to similar salaries and allowances, the committee said.
It further recommended a review of the salaries and allowances paid to the top executives and directors of government-linked corporations and statutory bodies.
