SERDANG - Agriculture and Food Security Ministry places a maximum purchase limit of 100kg of local white rice for every individual, effective immediately.
Ministry's Padi and Rice Regulatory Division director-general, Datuk Azman Mahmood, said the action was taken to ensure rice supplies were stable.
"We found that vendors were purchasing rice weighing 500kg to 700kg at a time.
"So that's why it (restriction) is imposed starting today by allowing the purchase of only 10 rice sacks (100kg) per person," he said in a press conference after the National Paddy and Rice Sub Sector Budget 2024 Dialogue Session in the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) here on Thursday.
When asked about the duration set for the limit, Azman explained it would be done until the rice supply stabilises.
"We will implement it for the foreseeable future until the conditions stabilise," he said.
Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, meanwhile, stated the price of local white rice remains controlled and is in sufficient supply despite the nation facing an increase in imported rice prices.
He explained that the prices of local white rice remained at RM26 per sack or RM2.60 per kilogramme (kg).
"Insya-Allah the local rice is sufficient and controlled," he said.