KUCHING, June 23: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng urges the authorities to investigate Sarawak’s high price of cement allegedly caused by monopoly in the local industry.
In a statement in Bernama today (June 23), he said although the federal government managed to curb rising cement prices in Peninsular Malaysia last week, the price of the commodity in Sarawak is significantly higher.
“Cement is a basic building material. Any substantial increase in cement prices will be redistributed into the economy.
“This will then affect the buying power of consumers,” said Lim.
He said the measure addressed public concern over the possibility of an increase in cement prices by as much as 40 per cent in Peninsular Malaysia, as reported in the media last week.
“It also eased public concern that the major local producers of cement have abused their market power to raise prices unfairly,” he said.
Lim also said that for the time being, the inflation rate for consumers in Malaysia remains low and stable.
The Consumer Price Index for April 2019 rose only 0.2 per cent, at the same rate as in the previous month, he added. — DayakDaily
