One or two more months, PM says on decision to lift chicken export ban

The government will wait another month or two before lifting the ban on chicken exports, says Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail said this was necessary to ensure that the country’s chicken supply is sufficient and the prices are stable even though there is currently an oversupply of chicken in the market.

"We have discussed (this matter) in the Cabinet but we cannot make a decision yet as the chicken price is still subsidised.

"We will wait for one or two months, when this subsidy ends on Aug 31 and there is still a lot of supply and the prices are low, then we may be able to allow exports.

"We don't want (to allow chicken exports) if the country’s chicken supply is insufficient, causing the prices to go up," he said in an interview yesterday.

The government banned chicken exports from June 1 to address a shortage of chicken supply that had caused prices to increase.

However, an oversupply of chicken in the market has caused poultry farmers to urge the government to lift the ban.

On the Special Task Force on Jihad against Inflation set up by the government, Ismail said it was not only focused on tackling the rising prices of goods but had also expanded its role to address the overall inflation.

He said initially, only the relevant ministries were involved in the task force. However, after realising that a more comprehensive committee was needed to tackle various issues, the government also included the finance ministry and the Economic Planning Unit, he said, adding that the committee will decide on intervention measures to tackle inflation.

He said the task force had successfully implemented an intervention measure to resolve the issue of the surge in price of chicken and eggs by providing subsidies.

He said the communications and multimedia ministry is also involved in the task force to ensure that all information about the government’s decisions and measures reaches the people effectively.