IS M'SIA'S CPI REFLECTIVE OF THE ACTUAL INFLATION? (SEQUEL COMMENTARY)

Just three days ago, my wife returned from the market nearby our house in Petaling Jaya with displeased exclamation: “Can you imagine…….the price of this item has gone up almost double compared to two weeks ago!” She was pointing to a cluster (excuse me if I have used the wrong collective noun) of a specific vegetable in her basket. “I was flabbergasted when my usual vegetable vendor quoted the price to me!” 

“What happened? And why did you buy?” I asked in curiously.

She quipped: “Because of the flood season, lah……..there’s a shortage of supply……that’s what he told me. Other vegetables have also gone up significantly. If I didn’t buy, then no vegetable dish for dinner tonight.”

Her blurts immediately prompted my mind to flash back to my latest previous blog postings. Once again, I scoured for information on the latest development with regard to the same topic and thus now sharing with you my findings as the sequel of the earlier commentaries.  To make the sequel story short, it is best that I cite some latest pertinent points extracted from English print media articles. Here goes……….. 

·         (From a local economic/business magazine):

-         *Climate change has caused recent heavy rain and widespread flood, which result in some disruptions to the supply of food like vegetables and fish.

-          *The main contributors to the increase in CPI in the last decade are the following categories: Food & Beverages; Transport; Housing, Utilities & Fuel.

·         (From a foreign-based newspaper, also in circulation in Malaysia):

*The adviser to the KL & Selangor Fruit Farmer Association, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew said in his speech at its inaugural directors meeting that the government should focus on agriculture development as the world could possibly face food crisis in future.

·         (From a local mainstream newspaper):

*Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak touched on the pressing issue of inflation and rising living costs in his 1Malaysia blog. He was quoted as saying that it was because of this concern that the government introduced “Tackling Rising Cost of Living” as one of the key areas under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). Launching the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (1Malaysia community retail outlet) was an example, he added.

Notwithstanding whether the CPI of 3.4% as at October, 2011 was reflective of the actual inflation scenario, apparently there is need for our country at large to implement proactive measures for containing rising costs. The ability to keep inflation at positive levels in the long run will be one of the ways to garner economic activities and growth in line with the government’s noble drive for attaining Vision 2020 – i.e. high income and developed nation status by year 2020. A prevailing good sign is, various Malaysian sectors are consciously aware of this need to manage inflation. But more importantly so is to transform this need to fruition by way of concrete follow-through monitoring and mitigating actions.

Nine full years from now is not too long a time; neither is it too short to churn out more and comprehensive programmes for achieving the nation’s coveted goal. So, needless to say, strategies and action plans should be rolled out quickly and vibrantly starting right now.

For any mission to be accomplished, three factors must co-exist – source, element and essence. Desired intention is the source. Potent strategies and action plans represent the element. Fervent implementation of the potent strategies and action plans provides the essence to fulfill the mission. 

Wish all of you a blessed 2012.