Russia-Ukraine conflict: Traders should not hike prices arbitrarily - Nanta

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, said although in terms of economic principles, conflicts or wars could cause the prices of goods and services to rise, such an increase would not necessarily be happening worldwide.

"We (the government) can use the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act at any time. We can use this law regardless of whether there is a war or not. Anyone who does business must be ethical. If the reason for the price increase is reasonable, then we can accept it," he said.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting sales of COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kits (RTKs) and precious metals here, he said that from past experience, conflicts involving oil-producing countries such as Russia and Ukraine could lead to rising prices of goods and services.

"The conflict has just started, and they (traders) have already raised the price of goods on the grounds of rising oil prices. We will issue a warning and take action," he said.

Nanta said Malaysia was no exception from feeling the effect of the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict, as they were suppliers of chicken feed to Malaysia along with Argentina and Brazil.

As a first step, he said the government had allocated RM500 million as a measure to control the retail price of standard and super chickens, and grade A, B and C chicken eggs.

On the issue of the supply of RTK kits, he said that a total of 8,084 retail premises had been given permission to sell kits that were recognised by the Malaysian Medical Devices Authority, to make them accessible to the public.

He added that eight local manufacturers have obtained conditional approval to produce a total of 4.306 million units of RTK besides importing another 2.34 million units from seven countries to ensure adequate supply.