Credit : Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof's X
PUTRAJAYA, October 22, 2026 – Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof, who is also Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, chaired the second Price Stabilisation Committee Meeting for Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan for 2026 this morning, as the federal government continues its push to keep the prices of essential goods in check across East Malaysia.
The meeting was held at the ICU Conference Room in the Perdana Putra Building in Putrajaya, Fadillah said in a post on his official X account on October 22.
“This morning, I chaired the Price Stabilisation Committee Meeting in Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan No. 2 for 2026 at the ICU Conference Room, Perdana Putra Building,” he wrote in Malay.
“I would like to state that Sabah and Sarawak received the highest allocations in the Budget,” he added, in a reference to the federal spending plan for the coming year.
Photos shared with the post show Fadillah leading the session from the head of a long conference table lined with the flags of Malaysia’s states, with ministry officials and representatives seated on both sides and presentation slides displayed on screens around the room.
Highest federal allocations under Budget 2027
Fadillah’s remarks follow the tabling of Budget 2027 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on October 9, 2026. According to the Prime Minister’s budget speech and the Ministry of Finance’s summary of measures, Sabah and Sarawak will once again receive the highest federal allocations, with Sabah’s share rising from RM17.6 billion to RM18.7 billion and Sarawak’s from RM15.1 billion to RM16.2 billion, a combined RM34.9 billion.
The budget also provides an interim Special Grant of RM1.5 billion for each of the two states, doubles the Public Service Department (JPA) sponsorship quota to 2,100 students each for those born in Sabah and Sarawak, and sets aside RM3.3 billion for road projects including the Trans Borneo Highway, the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road 1 and Pan Borneo Sabah Phase 1B. A further RM204 million will fund STATCOM systems at the Dam Road and Segaliud Main Intake substations to stabilise Sabah’s electricity supply, while RM209 million continues subsidies for rural air services following the handover of MASwings to Sarawak as AirBorneo.
Tackling high prices in East Malaysia
The Price Stabilisation Committee was set up to analyse and address issues related to the pricing of goods and services in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, and to propose strategies and mechanisms to stabilise prices in the three territories. Fadillah has chaired the committee’s meetings since at least 2024.
Studies by Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak presented to the committee found that high logistics costs, particularly for goods shipped from Peninsular Malaysia, are among the main reasons everyday items cost more in the two states, according to earlier remarks by Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali reported by Bernama. Chicken prices in Sabah and the absence of local sugar refineries were among the issues flagged.
At the committee’s first meeting of 2026 on February 26, the government agreed to set up a Technical Working Group on Price Stabilisation to strengthen coordination between the federal government and the state governments, with the aim of ensuring people in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan have access to sufficient essential goods at stable prices.
Earlier initiatives endorsed by the committee include an integrated grain corn development programme in Sabah and Sarawak, intended to reduce dependence on imported animal feed that has pushed up production costs and market prices for livestock products.
Fadillah did not detail the specific decisions reached at today’s meeting in his post.
Source: Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof on X
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