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Smuggling, scrapping of subsidies fuelling shortage of cheapest cooking oil in Malaysia
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Trader Mahasan Yasar, 53, with two 1kg polybag packets of subsidised cooking oil at his shop in Tunjong, Malaysia.
PHOTO: FOTOBERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR - Smuggling, the scrapping of subsidies, as well as fertiliser and labour shortages are some factors fuelling a shortage of the cheapest cooking oil in Malaysia, the second-largest producer of palm oil in the world.
The government abolished subsidies for 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg cooking oil bottles from July 1 but kept them for 1kg polybag packets, which economists say has led to consumers scrambling to buy the cheaper product, leading to a shortfall.
