SEVERAL items saw a price increase on the first day of the implementation of the Sales and Service Tax (SST).
The New Straits Times Press had, since last month, kept
tabs on a list of items at the
same shops to see if their prices would go up from the “tax honeymoon” period right up to SST kicking in.
The price checks were done nationwide on Aug 7 and 15, and on Sept 1.
The items included F&N Rose Cordial (2 litres), F&N Coke (1.5 litres), Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate (165g), aluminium foil, toilet paper, Hotwheels cars and Panasonic 1.8-litre electric rice cooker.
In Kuala Lumpur, checks showed that there were no price increases on the items. Instead, most shops held month-long promotions with added discounts for members.
In George Town, checks at an outlet in Jelutong revealed that four of the seven items saw price increases compared with the week before SST.
The items were the F&N Rose Cordial and F&N Coke (1.5 litres), at RM7.99 and RM2.99 each, up from last week’s prices of RM7.49 and RM2.59.
New Glad aluminium foil and a Panasonic rice cooker were sold, post SST, at RM5.99 and RM108.06, respectively, compared with RM5.50 and RM93.90 the week before.
The outlet held promotions on selected food items, vegetables, plastic containers and others.
In Kuantan, the price of the Panasonic rice cooker rose to RM99.90 from RM94.90.
Also up was aluminium foil, from RM10.23 to RM13.95.
In Johor Baru, the price of
aluminium foil rose from RM8.58 to RM11.12, while a rice cooker saw a RM5 increase from RM94.90.
In Melaka, checks in Peringgit showed that most of the items had the same prices, with some even lower after SST.
The price of the rice cooker dropped to RM108.60 from RM122.50 on Aug 7, followed by toilet paper, priced at RM12.90 from RM16.88.
In Perak, F&N Rose Cordial rose to RM9.06 from RM6.99. However, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar saw a price decrease of 40 sen from RM6.99.
Checks done in Sabah and Sarawak, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu showed no price changes on the items.