Ameer said the government’s subsidy schemes were not properly structured.

Instead, he urged the government to do away with all subsidies in favour of giving cash aid directly to the people.

“We (T20) never asked for subsidies. You (the government) structured the subsidies wrong. It should be targeted,” said Ameer, who is managing director of the Mydin chain of hypermarkets.

The comment about the T20 gaining benefit from subsidies had been made by finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.

He said on Wednesday that more than RM15 billion of government subsidies were of benefit to the T20 group, including a big portion of petrol subsidies, amounting to RM4 billion.

However, Ameer told FMT the government should not intervene in the economy and let market forces decide on prices of goods and services.

“When you transfer money directly to the people, the money will go back into the economy. There will be a multiplier effect. Trust the people to manage the money themselves,” he said.

The government’s role should be to provide a safety net for society’s most vulnerable.

“For example, in the United States, fuel prices are high but the government does not subsidise it,” he said. “Instead, they give aid (to the poor) in the form of food vouchers.”

Ameer added: “No one is saying the government shouldn’t help, but be smart about how we help the people so that no money is wasted.”