The government is often blamed for the rising cost of living despite it having little say over the price of most goods and services, said Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.

"(The government) is the best punching bag. Anywhere you go in the world, if you have any problem (with rising cost of living), you punch the government. That's normal," he said in an interview with Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today yesterday.

The government can only control and subsidise a selected list of basic goods to shield the public from inflationary pressure, he explained.

"But when it comes to processed products and processed foods, you simply cannot dictate the price," he said.

For instance, he said the public can choose between subsidised cooking oil which is priced at RM2.50 for 1kg packs over other branded products.

"You can get a non-branded cocoa drink at a cheap price. If you want to buy Milo, we cannot control it (the price). How can you expect the government to tell Milo not to sell at that price?" he explained.

"If you buy Milo at a high (price), how can you blame the government (for it)?"

Similarly, he said Putrajaya was unable to compel mamak stall operators to lower their prices because a free market is dictated by supply and demand.

He said this when asked whether the rising cost of living would affect BN's chances in the upcoming general election.

Defending Titiwangsa

Johari is expected to defend his Titiwangsa seat in the upcoming polls and it is likely his opponent would use cost-of-living issues against him due to his role as one of the two top men in the Finance Ministry.

Johari edged out his PAS opponent by a majority of only 866 votes in the last general election, but this time around he may benefit from a split opposition.

Titiwangsa is one of the two Kuala Lumpur seats won by Umno in 2013. The other nine are held by DAP (five seats) and PKR (four seats).

Numerous studies have indicated that the rising cost of living was the main concern of voters in the upcoming election which must be held in the next six months.

Johari, who is also an Umno supreme council member, urged Malaysians to live within their means.

"If someone earns RM3,000 per month, they have to live within the RM3,000. If they want to live like they have RM5,000 or RM15,000 a month, then cannot lah," he said.

To another question, Johari said some people even blamed the government if they did not receive an increase in wages or bonuses.

Johari said this has more to do with the performance of the company they are working for. He added that he has never heard similar complaints from profitable companies.

As for the public sector, Johari said civil servant wages have been increasing over the past 10 years and said it was wrong to oversimplify wage-related issues.