The government will study various ways and means to overcome the price increase of essential items in the country, and reduce the financial burden of the people, said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Among steps being studied to overcome the increase in price of goods and services was by helping farmers, enhance enforcement of the law, special incentives to the people and provide additional subsidy to the people, fuel subsidy included, he said.    

"We will rope in various agencies and the private sector to device a formula that can help reduce the financial burden of the rakyat who are faced with an increase in price of goods," he said after opening a Health Carnival and launching a programme called 'Doctor Goes to the Village' in Pagoh today.

Muhyiddin who is chairing a Cabinet Committee on Supply and Price under the National Key Result Area (NKRA) that deals with rising cost of living, said the committee will soon meet to analyze the proposed steps.

Claims that gov’t doing nothing ‘baseless’

Contrary to claims that the government was not doing anything to ease the burden of the people, steps taken through various initiatives would show that such claims are baseless, he said.  

Muhyiddin said the 'Doctor Goes to the Village' programme was an effort by the government to ease the burden of the people by sending doctors to villages twice a month to provide medical treatment.

The programme is expected to start on Aug 30 and benefit 30,000 people from 31 villages.

The deputy prime minister also gave out 500 spectacles to children from Standard One to Standard Six, and senior citizens from Pagoh, who faced problems with their vision but could not afford to buy spectacles.

- Bernama