KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government will wait for another month or two before making a decision to lift the ban on chicken exports, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in an interview broadcast on Saturday (Aug 20).
He said the delay to reallow exports would help ensure sufficient domestic supply and stable prices, although there is a current oversupply of chicken.
"We have discussed (the matter) in the Cabinet but we cannot make a decision yet as the chicken price is still subsidised.
"We will wait for one or two months, when this subsidy ends on Aug 31 and there is still a lot of supply and the price is low, then we may be able to allow exports," Datuk Seri Ismail said in a programme broadcast over local TV stations, as quoted by Bernama news agency.
Malaysian officials have said that subsidies for chicken and egg farmers will end on Aug 31.
The interview with the premier was conducted in programme to mark his first year in office. He was sworn in as Malaysia's ninth prime minister, and the third since the 2018 general election, on Aug 21 last year.
Malaysia has faced a supply shortage of chicken since the beginning of the year due to extreme weather, labour shortages, and higher costs of feed due to the global supply disruption caused by the Russian-led war in Ukraine.
In response to local needs, the Malaysian government on June 1 banned the exports of chicken and chicken-based products, with aim of stabilising domestic chicken supply and prices.
Malaysia had previously exported some 3.6 million mostly live chickens each month to Singapore, which was about a third of Singapore's total supply.
In mid-June, the Malaysian government partially eased the ban by allowing the exports of live premium chickens - kampung (free roaming) chicken and black chicken, as well as chicken-based products such as nuggets.
On July 13, Indonesia started delivering frozen chicken to Singapore. The first shipment delivered as much as 50,000kg of frozen chicken worth 2 billion rupiah (S$185,340).
To raise Malaysia chicken supplies and bring down prices, the government has also allowed for the import of chicken and chicken-based products.
Since the export ban, Malaysian chicken prices have kept below the government-mandated ceiling of RM9.40 (S$2.90) per kg, and the industry's supply and inflation issues have been resolved, officials have said.
