The agriculture and food security minister said discussions are being held with the finance, economic affairs, and domestic trade and cost of living ministries.
“There are suggestions that the egg prices should be floated and subsidies given for the B40 community. We are studying whether this will be beneficial for the lower income group.
“This is because those who can afford it don’t really mind how much eggs are being sold for, and Malaysians consume a lot of chicken and eggs,” he said at a ceremony hosted by his ministry today.
Previously, Ameer Ali Mydin, managing director of Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad, called on the government to scrap subsidies for essential household items like cooking oil and eggs and replace them with targeted subsidies through cash assistance for the B40 community.
Ameer said this would guarantee a win-win scenario for all parties, as well as reduce the government’s expenses in paying out subsidies.
Mohamad, or more fondly known as Mat Sabu, said he expected the shortage of eggs to be resolved within a few months with ongoing and newly-implemented measures by the government.
“We are discussing subsidy matters with egg producers, on whether to continue or modify (the subsidy) in order to increase supply in the market.
“At the moment, the chicken supply seems to be quite stable, and egg (supply) will be stable soon. Right now, we are covering the shortage of eggs with imported ones. We hope that it (egg supply) will recover in a month or two,” he said.
Mohamad also said the country would stop importing eggs from India when the domestic production of eggs is adequate.
He said India had been prepared to supply much-needed quality eggs while adhering to existing procedures.
At the time, he said, India was already exporting eggs to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup and, therefore, the process could be expedited.
Mohamad had visited Namakkal in Tamil Nadu earlier this month for a first-hand look at how eggs were being produced for export to Malaysia. This was also to ensure that the supply was clean, safe for consumption, and cheaper than local eggs.
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