KUALA LUMPUR: The price of goods in Malaysia is more significantly influenced by supply and demand than the tax system currently in place, said Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Rosol Wahid.
He said neither the Sales and Services Tax (SST) or the Goods and Services Tax (GST) systems have a significant impact on the price of goods.
"Whether (products and services are) cheap or expensive, it depends on supply and demand," he said.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Salim Sharif (Barisan Nasional (BN)-Jempol), who asked if the price of goods has become more affordable following the implementation of the SST.
The GST, which features a six per cent tax rate, was introduced under the previous BN federal administration in April 2015.
After Pakatan Harapan (PH) wrested the federal government from BN in the 14th general election, the former pledged to abolish the GST. On Sept 1, 2018, the GST was abolished and replaced with the SST.
Earlier, Rosol told the House that the ministry is working closely with several other ministries, including the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI), to prevent the rise in the cost of living from burdening the people, especially the rural community.
"The ministry is working closely with MITI to eliminate issues related to 'middlemen' through the adoption of e-commerce platforms.
"We are also working closely with the Health Ministry to prevent any rise in the price of medicine and the cost of medical treatment.
"The ministry has also conducted programmes to eliminate 'cartels' or monopolies by industries which have undergone liberalisation. This will result in healthy competition, on top of ensuring that consumers could purchase goods at competitive prices," he said.
The ministry, he said, also plans to standardise the price of goods throughout the country. Rosol said this will ensure that the rural community purchases goods at prices similar to folks living in urban areas.
He said the ministry will continue to carry out enforcement to monitor the price of goods, especially during festive seasons.
"There are a total of 1,044 officers at the ministry who are monitoring prices of goods. To date, the ministry has inspected a total of 13,226 retail premises," he added.