As consumers struggle with the rising cost of living, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri has urged them to choose where they shop.

She said that, in her experience, not all outlets have raised prices and that shoppers should take advantage of government's facilities to check and compare prices.

“The price rise is subjective in certain areas. Recently, when I had tea in Kuching, there were six of us and it was only RM12. Is that expensive?” she told reporters today.

“Same with vegetables. I go around, although I don't have TV people following me. Of course, you have to know where to buy chilli (for example) - where some sell for RM1, others RM2.”

She said the cabinet gets a review of prices of goods and services and although it cannot be denied that prices have gone up, there are outlets where the cost is still reasonable.

“For example, in Petronas stations the prices never go up. In Mydin, the prices don't go up. We receive these reports weekly,” she said.

She added that the government is also "doing (its) best" to clamp down on middlemen price manipulation and to help consumers compare prices through the 1Pengguna website.

'Bankruptcies not expected to rise'

Nancy, who spoke after visiting The Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) in Kuala Lumpur, also said that she does not expect bankruptcy rates to go up, following the rising cost of living.

“I am going all out in our effort throughout Malaysia to give awareness to youths before making loans, and for those who have already taken loans, how to ... not be bankrupt,” she said, lauding the AKPK's services.

 

She added that the Malaysian Department of Insolvency and AKPK also work to assist those who have been declared bankrupt so they can be removed from the list.

 

AKPK data shows that most of the 248,491 individuals it counselled last year had defaulted on loans or had debt problems due to poor financial planning, followed by medical expenses, slowdown in business performance and use of credit cards.