KUCHING, Jan 24: The drop in prices of some goods cannot be attributed solely to the Sales and Services Tax (SST) as there are other factors that can affect and influence pricing decisions.
Tan Kai, a political secretary to the Chief Minister, pointed out that the factors affecting the price of goods include market supply and demand, the global economic situation, currency performance as well as the country’s economic situation.
“To link the drastic price drop of vegetables, for example, to SST is ridiculous and laughable as it is not logical,” he said in a statement today.
Tan was responding to Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen’s statement over the drop in prices of 70 per cent of goods following the implementation of SST.
“We are all aware that the difference between SST and Goods and Services Tax (GST) is just 4 per cent. But in the past, the price for things like imported vegetables can be reduced between 50 to 70 per cent after the implementation of GST was due to excessive production in China and India, meaning oversupply,” he explained.
To state such a claim, Tan criticised that it only demonstrated the narrow mindset and was a cover-up of the incapability of the federal government.
“If the deputy minister (Chong) thinks that the implementation of SST is the right solution for the price drop of goods, then he should take a look at the prices of seafood,” he added.
If Chong conduct a survey in the seafood market, Tan believed he would be surprised to find a drastic increase in the price of seafood, especially fish and prawns. — DayakDaily
