Shainee: Not believable that people renting homes eat rice from subsidy

Fisheries Minister, Dr. Mohamed Shainee has said that it does not make sense to raise rent prices with the removing of subsidies from staple goods and it is not believable that people renting houses is eating the rice from subsidies.

Responding to a question from a journalists at the press conference last night, Dr. Shainee said that the removal of subsidies have no impact on those in poverty since they can fill the subsidy forms to get it for staple goods.

Dr. Shainee said that if anyone is complaining about the elevated prices of staple goods, it is due to a “political uneasiness.”

The Fisheries Minister said that the decision to remove the subsidy on staple goods is not something that can be done by a leader unless they mean good for the country. The Minister said that politically, it is easier to give subsidies until the country is in debt but this way, the country can get better, economically.

The Minister said that the government of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has not failed economically and the national reserve in this regime is higher than the previous regimes.

With the removal of subsidies, the price of one kilo of rice has risen from MVR 3.98 to MVR 7.96, the price of one kilo of sugar from MVR 4.50 to MVR 8, and price of one kilo of flour from MVR 3.50 to MVR 5.96.

The public has been raising concerns since the decision came into effect on 1 October 2016.