KUALA LUMPUR, April 19: Malaysia announced a $1.3 billion plan on Saturday to boost food security by building stockpiles, raising rice output and reining in inflation.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would ensure the country was self-sufficient in rice. A third of Malaysia’s rice needs of over two million tonnes a year is now met by imports.

Across the globe foods from bread to milk have become more expensive and in some countries helped fuel inflation and shortages.

The higher cost of living was cited as one of the reasons for a huge setback for Malaysia’s ruling coalition setback in last month’s general election.

Abdullah said the government would turn the eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island into a major rice producer through large-scale farming.

“We will provide some allocation for that purpose,” the state Bernama new agency quoted him as telling reporters.

He did not say how much of the 4 billion ringgit ($1.27 billion) budget would be used for rice farming.

Abdullah said the government had set up a special panel to deal with food security and inflation.

Malaysia’s inflation hit a one-year high of 2.7 per cent in February.

The government estimates it will spend at least 40 billion ringgit on subsidies this year, with the biggest burden being the cost of helping to keep fuel prices among the lowest in Asia.

It also subsidises items ranging from rice and sugar to steel and cement under a system that sometimes gives firms a monopoly or oligopoly over the supply of price-controlled items.—Reuters