How much did the government spend on cooking oil subsidies from 2019 to February 2025?

Question

Accepted Answer

Government Spent RM10.879 Billion on Cooking Oil Subsidies Between 2019 and February 2025

The Malaysian government allocated a substantial RM10.879 billion towards cooking oil subsidies between 2019 and February 2025. However, a recent investigation by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that this significant expenditure did not fully reach the intended recipients, highlighting systemic weaknesses in the subsidy management.
Ineffective Targeting Led to Subsidy Leakage

The PAC's findings, stemming from the Second Auditor-General's Report 2025, identified that the established subsidy mechanism, particularly the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (COSS), suffered from ineffective targeting. The allocated quota under COSS was set at 60,000 metric tonnes per month, significantly exceeding Malaysia's estimated domestic requirement of 19,000 to 30,000 metric tonnes monthly. This discrepancy, coupled with the absence of a targeted distribution mechanism, meant that a considerable portion of the RM10.879 billion in subsidies did not benefit the genuinely needy.
Misuse by Ineligible Groups and Commercial Operators

A key issue identified by the PAC was the misuse of subsidised 1kg packet cooking oil by ineligible groups. This included foreign nationals and commercial operators who were not entitled to the subsidised product. Such diversions from the intended beneficiaries contributed to the failure of the subsidies to reach their target demographic effectively.
Weaknesses in Supply Chain and Condition Breaches

Further weaknesses were found in the management of the cooking oil supply chain and adherence to sales conditions. The PAC noted issues with damaged cooking oil stocks lacking specific standard operating procedures at packing companies, leading to government subsidy costs for goods that would never reach consumers. Additionally, ineffective monitoring at the retail level facilitated widespread practices like conditional sales, stock hoarding, and sales exceeding the controlled price of RM2.50, undermining the intended benefits of the subsidy programme.

Reading history

Hide →

This history is cleared when the page is closed.

How much did the government spend on cooking oil subsidies from 2019 to February 2025?

Loading

Was this article helpful?

Helpful

Not helpful

Report an issue

2

0

0

Share with friends