Speaking at the launching of the Program Jualan Sentuhan Rakyat (PJSR) here today, Najib said it was unfair to keep blaming the government, particularly GST, for the rising prices of goods in the country.
“It is not true that high cost of goods is due to the GST because the tax was implemented three years ago. So consumers should no longer be affected by it.”
He added Malaysia’s tax rate is among the lowest compared with other countries such as India which has four tax phases, ranging from 5% to 28%, while Singapore’s GST is set to rise to 9%, starting 2021.
Furthermore, he said out of 164 countries that had implemented GST, Malaysia is the only country that had exempted 578 essential items from the tax.
Nevertheless, as a concerned government, Najib said it is not right to simply do nothing about it.
“This is why we always look for solutions and intervention programmes that we can do to give positive effects to the people.
“The programme today is held to help stabilise the prices. We want to influence market prices so the prices will only increase at reasonable rates.
“We cannot allow the free market to determine the prices because there are some people who are out looking to make high profits off the people.”
Najib’s statement was also supported by Chief Minister Musa Aman who, earlier in his speech, said high prices, especially in the interior of Sabah, are due to middlemen who manipulated the prices just to gain more profits.
This is why, Musa said, the state government had allocated RM70 million in the state budget this year to pay for transportation to the rural areas in an effort to curb rising prices.
Meanwhile, during the event, Najib announced an additional RM5 million for the Biz Fair programme in Sabah, aimed at providing early capital of up to RM3,000 worth of goods and equipment to entrepreneurs in the state.
He also handed over RM200,000 in corporate tithes from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) and RM200,000 in #SSMPrihatin corporate social responsibility contributions to Musa.