SELANGOR, MALAYSIA February 19, 2026 – Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), on the first day of Ramadan 1447H yesterday (19 February 2026) made a surprise visit to one of the premises participating in the Madani Rahmah Sales Programme (PJRM) at Matahari Wholesale Supermarket, Pandan Indah Branch, Selangor.
In his social media post, he stated that the inspection was carried out after office hours to ensure the smooth implementation of PJRM as listed in the Madani Rahmah Sales Programme Calendar.
He explained that throughout Ramadan, spending patterns among the public, especially Muslims, change as many purchase iftar dishes either at Ramadan bazaars or prepare them at home, while also beginning preparations for Syawal by making various traditional cookies and kuih. This naturally leads to higher household expenditure.
“Intervention programmes like PJRM are very important as an option for the public to obtain essential goods at lower prices compared to market rates,” Armizan said.
Throughout this Ramadan, KPDN will organise a total of 1,898 PJRM series nationwide, covering wet and dry goods needed for iftar preparations as well as for making kuih-muih.
Although PJRM alone is not sufficient to fully offset the increase in spending, he stressed that it serves as one important platform to help ease the cost of living burden, particularly for those in need.
Armizan also emphasised that PJRM is not the sole solution to the cost of living issue but forms part of a broader strategy under the National Cost of Living Action Council (NACCOL), which focuses on two key components: (i) stabilising the prices of goods and services, and (ii) increasing the people’s disposable income.
He expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance for approving special allocations in recent years that have institutionalised PJRM as one of the initiatives to address cost of living concerns. With annual dedicated funding, KPDN is able to plan and make continuous improvements to enhance its effectiveness, unlike the previous ad-hoc implementation of discounted sales programmes.
Among the improvements made since PJRM was institutionalised as a permanent initiative under the NACCOL agenda are:
- PJRM held every month in all states
- 3 times per month in every state constituency (DUN) nationwide
- 40 zones in the Federal Territories
Starting in 2025, KPDN has provided an online PJRM Calendar accessible via the ministry’s website, allowing the public to check dates and locations of PJRM near them. The calendar can be viewed at https://pjrm.kpdn.gov.my
During the visit to Pandan Indah, Armizan found that the PJRM implementation was running smoothly, with discounts offered on 65 types of items/SKUs. He also used his own SARA For All RM100 credit—disbursed to all adult citizens since 9 February 2026—to help pay part of the grocery bill for a husband-and-wife team who run a small nasi lemak business and buy their raw ingredients at the supermarket. Five SARA terminals were available at the premises.
He also inquired with the supermarket manager about the supply of packet cooking oil. The manager informed him that since the rollout of the mobile e-coss application, the outlet has received larger supplies than before. For January 2026 alone, the supermarket received 20,400 packets of subsidised cooking oil for sale to consumers, with a limit of 3 packets per transaction.
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