Govt to rope industry players into economic council meetings

2026-03-16 - 10:43

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim chairing the national economic action council’s meeting today. (X pic) PETALING JAYA: The government has decided to rope industry players into its national economic action council meetings, which are now held weekly in view of the Middle East conflict. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said more active participation from industry players would enable Putrajaya to understand the issues at hand swiftly and for practical recommendations to be made promptly. He said the council was keeping a close eye on developments in the Middle East, while members were briefed about Malaysia’s main economic indicators today. “Overall, the situation is under control,” Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said in a Facebook post. “However, preliminary measures in response to the possible scenarios that may arise need to be discussed now. With that, the council’s discussions will involve more active participation from industry players.” Earlier today, tourism groups urged Putrajaya to provide operators with fuel subsidies following the sharp rise in prices induced by the conflict in the Middle East. The government had raised the price of RON97 petrol and non-subsidised RON95 by 60 sen last week, while the price of diesel in West Malaysia has gone up by 80 sen. Putrajaya estimates that keeping the subsidised fuel prices will increase its monthly fuel subsidy bill to RM3.2 billion, comprising RM2 billion for RON95 and RM1.2 billion for diesel, which continues to be sold at a subsidised price in East Malaysia.