The small drop in the prices of goods is the reason why the people have not been able to fully feel or realise the effects of the GST which was zero-rated since June 1.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the prices of goods appeared to remain the same, as over 70 percent of 417 goods saw a price drop of between 0.04 and 13 per cent.

He added the survey was done over a 35-day period from June 1 and the 417 goods included baby items, grocery and non-grocery goods.

“In fact, there has been no increase. The drop in prices, (however), is so small that it hardly reached 30 to 40 percent,” he said.

The minister, who is also Kulim Bandar Baharu MP, was responding to complaints from the public, several consumer associations, as well as former minister Rais Yatim, who claimed that there had been no change in the price of goods despite the implementation of zero-rated GST from June 1.

"When we look at the complaints, there are two main categories – one where the prices remain unchanged and the other, where the prices have increased.

“Out of the 10 complaints received, five of them were related to food and beverages at restaurants, dining outlets and food courts," he said.

Saifuddin said food and beverage prices were lowered at fast food outlets, but that was not the case in Indian Muslim or mamak restaurants where the prices remained unchanged, and in some eateries, prices had increased.

"There are about 10,000 mamak restaurants and ministry officers found that there was a significant drop in prices at fast food outlets compared to prices at mamak restaurants."

Saifuddin said he planned to display a sample of the prices of goods that had been surveyed by officers on the ministry’s website.

“We can perhaps create a link for the people to access directly and see for themselves the results of our survey,” he added.

--Bernama