As Malaysia faces egg shortage, PM Anwar Ibrahim advises people against panic buying

Malaysia's elections just ended some time ago and the country's new prime minister Anwar Ibrahim is already facing the challenge of egg shortage. Addressing the shortages, Malaysia’s PM urged the countrymen to not hoard eggs. Officials are saying that the egg shortage is a result of COVID-19 restrictions being eased up, which has led to a spike in egg consumption. COVID restrictions impact energy consumption as people do not use their vehicles often during lockdown. It is not clear why COVID-19 restrictions would impact food eating habits of people. 

"With the economy now fully reopened and people confident enough to travel and spend, there is an increase in food consumption beyond what was expected," Department of Statistics Malaysia chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin was quoted as saying on Tuesday by English newspaper The Star.

According to a report from South China Morning Post, the egg shortage was a big issue during Malaysia's elections. Malaysia’s PM used the egg shortage during his campaign rallies to target the erstwhile incumbent government. On November 6th, during a rally at the northern island state of Penang, Ibrahim said that what kind of a government Muhyiddin Yassin to Ismail Sabri (former PMs of Malaysia) are running that people do not even have access to eggs. Many people on social media have reportedly pointed out that cartels were hoarding up eggs during the elections to undermine the incumbent government. 

What is the real reason behind egg shortage? 

However, it is unlikely this is the real reason. The government has a price ceiling on eggs which is around 45 cents. Now, production costs have crossed the price ceiling set up by the government, as a result of which, businesses are unwilling to sell the eggs. Anwar Ibrahim, who finally became PM after trying for 24 years, had said during the elections that he will prioritise bread and butter issues such as cost of living. The fact that Malaysia's currency has become weaker due to rate hikes of the US Federal Reserve is not helping. The profit margin of poultry farmers has gone down because they import hen feed and when they import, the payment has to be made in US dollar. 

So, as a result of the strengthening US dollar, poultry farmers are in a situation where they have to pay more for hen feed, which means more operating cost. Malaysia’s Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry also appealed to people to avoid panic buying as panic buying is exacerbating the situation. There is also the problem of regional distribution. Some states of the country have more eggs and some don't have enough. “Other states, like Melaka, have excess supply, so we will work out a solution with them to ensure there is sufficient supply in Kuala Lumpur,” said the ministry’s Kuala Lumpur division director Ariffin Samsudin, as per a report from CNA.