New Ceiling Price For Face Masks Is Fixed At RM1.50 Starting 1 April
Previously, the government announced that the ceiling price was RM2.
By Arisha Rozaidee — 31 Mar 2020, 12:08 PM
The government just announced that the new ceiling price for face masks has been fixed at RM1.50 per piece starting 1 April
During a press conference on Monday, 30 March, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) came to a decision after they were told to do so by the government.
KPDNHEP had previously announced that the price of three-ply face masks needed to be increased from 80 sen to RM2 to encourage more local production
However, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri clarified that most of the nation's supply is imported.
He said, "The government discussed the matter this morning and found that we don't have a lot of masks produced locally. We import most of them, so we are tied to the prices fixed by those countries."
"Due to that, we agreed for the ceiling price for masks to be fixed at RM1.50, which is 50 sen cheaper than what we announced earlier."
The government will continue to observe any changes in the price and will review it from time to time
"If the price continues to drop, the government will set a new ceiling price," the defence minister explained.
Meanwhile, New Straits Times reported that KPDNHEP has yet to set a ceiling price for hand sanitisers. This is due to the fact that the item comes in different brands and are priced differently based on where they are produced.
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri assured that he will bring up the matter to KPDNHEP if needed.
