KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that issues related to the rising cost of living in Malaysia and Thailand are among the matters to be discussed in his meeting with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin tomorrow.
The newly appointed Thai Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow morning for a two-day working visit to Malaysia.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the meeting will also discuss measures to help alleviate the burden faced by the people in both countries.
“We (Malaysian Government) are striving to alleviate the burden of the people, including the M40 group affected by the current economic scenario, which also happening worldwide.
“Similar to our discussions with other leaders from around the world, these (issues and measures) too will be discussed with the Thai Prime Minister tomorrow or the day after,” he said during Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here today.
Anwar said this in reply to Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) who wanted to know the government’s approach to boost the purchasing power of the people following the depreciation of the value of the ringgit, in addition to the government’s efforts to increase the income of the B40 and M40 groups in response to rising prices of goods.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said that several measures to help reduce the burden of the people will also be announced in the national 2024 Budget, scheduled to be tabled this Friday.
On the implications of government spending on food subsidies, Anwar said that it has reached RM81 billion so far, exceeding the original estimate of RM67 billion.
“A small part of this is due to the increased cost of imports, especially for food. So, this necessitates the need for some new policies to address it,” he said.
— Bernama
