An opposition lawmaker has urged the government to do more than just dish out lame excuses on the rising costs of necessities.

Kapar MP G Manivanan said the Domestic Trade Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry should take responsibility for this situation.

"The ministry has repeatedly stressed that it only controls the prices for six basic necessity goods.

"But what is happening now is that the prices of other basic necessity goods have risen to the point that some of them are at ridiculous prices.

"Is the ministry going to just leave it be?" the MP from PKR asked in a statement today.

Among others, Manivanan said the government should be keeping prices in check with the the Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

"Are they going to wait till the festival seasons to control the prices of goods by enforcing the Price Control Act?" he asked.

Manivanan said while the people are burdened by the increase, the government makes "not so smart" excuses, such as "do not eat sugar if the price of sugar increases" and "do not eat fried food if the price of oil increases".

Furthermore, he pointed out, the problem is also exacerbated by the weakness of the ringgit.

"2017 is a challenging year for Malaysians who have to face a weakening ringgit and increasing prices for food," he added.