KUALA LUMPUR: The subsidy for general purpose wheat flour, worth RM40 million, has been redirected to the Payung Rahmah initiative under Budget 2024, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh said that the subsidy was included in the RM200 million allocation for the Payung Rahmah programme.
“For this general-purpose flour, we have set aside the budget, but there have been no claims, as no factory was willing to produce the flour, and there hasn’t been any demand from the public either,” she said during the Ministers’ Question Time.
She was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah), who sought clarification on the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry’s (KPDN) plans following the recent discontinuation of the wheat flour subsidy.
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Meanwhile, Fuziah dismissed allegations that the distribution and production of subsidised goods were better before the 15th General Election (GE15) compared to post-election, labelling such claims as false.
She cited an example, stating that in 2022, sugar production stood at 437,290 tonnes with a total distribution of 430,713 tonnes, compared to last year, which recorded sugar production of 489,451 tonnes and distribution of 471,241 tonnes.
“For subsidised cooking oil packets...the average monthly production in 2022 was 55,000 tonnes, while in 2023, the maximum production reached 60,000 tonnes.
“This shows an increase in the production (of subsidised goods) in 2023 over the previous year,” she said in reply to Mas Ermieyati’s original question about the ministry’s plan to ensure that the supply of subsidised essential goods such as sugar, packet cooking oil and local rice recovers as before GE15.
