Malaysia has so far spent about RM27.6 million (over $9 million) on search operations for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an official said Monday.

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the cost was for food and fuel for five Malaysian agencies that took part in the search, Xinhua reported.

The five agencies were the Royal Malaysian air force, navy, police, fire and rescue department and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

"The cost that we had to bear is relatively small compared with the other assets given by other countries used in the search", he said.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing, China, at 12.41 a.m. on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced March 24 that flight MH370 had "ended in the southern Indian Ocean," following analysis of data released by British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat.

However, the Malaysian government said in a statement issued last week that the country will keep searching for MH370 for as long as it takes.