[ad_1]
PETALING JAYA: A new study shows Malaysia experienced the fifth-largest increase in toilet paper prices in 90 countries over a four-week period after the implementation of the Motion Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19 .
The study by the financial comparison platform Finder.com showed that Malaysian toilet paper prices rose 32.26% from $ 1.55 to $ 2.05 for four rolls from March 25 to April 22 .
This places it behind Norway, where prices increased 67.53%, Singapore (48.84%), Cyprus (35.08%) and Austria (33.85%).
The study was based on data provided by users of the Expatistan cost of living calculator.
“Overall, prices worldwide increased approximately 3.37% between March 25 and April 22, from $ 1.93 to $ 2.00, with almost 57% for all countries tracked by Expatistan seeing an increase in the price of toilet paper, “Finder said.
However, he added that around 18% saw no price changes, while 26% experienced a drop in prices.
Finder’s global editor-in-chief Angus Kidman said the price rise could be attributed to both supply and demand.
“With panic buying around the world, many common household items have become scarce.
“While governments rushed to intervene to stop the price increase, there will always be those who seek to capitalize on the shortage by raising prices,” he said.
He said that the Malaysian government had acted quickly in enforcing the MCO.
“But the damage may already have been done, since the increase in the price of toilet paper in Malaysia was far greater than what we saw in other countries.”
However, he added that the Expatistan data was self-reported and of limited use.
“We don’t definitely know if the price increases are due to retailers charging more for on-demand products or if people are simply reporting higher prices.”
False or not? Check out our fast fake news destroyer here.
