Foreigners may be banned from taking rice out of the country.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said the Government was mulling the idea as a move to end fears of a food shortage in the country due to the current global food crisis.

The ban is aimed at preventing those from neighbouring countries especially Singapore and Thailand, who come into Malaysia to shop for cheaper essential goods.

"We have to take steps to make sure it (rice) doesn't go through our borders because the price difference is quite great between Malaysia and in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

"Some varieties of Thai rice cost twice as much as Malaysian rice in the retail market in Thailand, depending on the quality," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Shahrir assured Malaysians there was no shortage of rice in the country although countries such as Thailand and the Philippines had been hit.

Earlier during Question Time, Shahrir said more people would benefit if the Government subsidises food products instead of fuel.

He said it would be better for the Government to use RM10bil from Petronas' profit to subside food products to benefit the lower income group.

"When the Government was using the allocated RM10bil for fuel subsidy, there was no urgency of subsidising food products then," he said.

"But today, many would say it is better to subsidise food rather than fuel," Shahrir said when replying Khairy Jamaluddin (BN - Rembau)."