KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 4): DAP today said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy should be sacked following price increase for most items since the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) on Wednesday.

The party's national publicity secretary Tony Pua said both Najib and Datuk Ahmad Maslan had insisted that the newtax would have benign impact and would result in lowers prices of most goods and services.

But Pua said barely a week after GST comes into force, the number of such goods and services are "far and few between".

Instead, he said consumers are faced with significant increases in prices for everyday goods and services, with some way above the 6% tax because the actual cost of doing business went up significantly due to the administration of the tax.

"On top of the chaos the GST is causing on the markets today, the failed promises of lower prices are certainly sufficient justification for the heads of Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy  Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan to be placed on the chopping block," said Pua today.

He cited speeches by both Ahmad Maslan and Najib in Parliament insisting that GST would not have adverse impact on consumers.

In citing a survey on 689 items, Ahmad Maslan had on April 7 last year stated that only 10% or 73 items  will see a spike in prices, while 42% will see price reductions and no change on 48% of products.

"Today, the reality is more like only 10% of goods and services actually fell in its pricing while an overwhelming number of goods and services have increased in price.

"How did this government conduct its study that came up with such unbelievable conclusions which the Minister could spout in the Parliament?" asked Pua (pic, left).

Tabling the 2015 budget last October, Najib assured Malaysians that of the 944 goods and services in the basket of goods of the Consumer Price Index, some 532 items or 56% are expected to reduce prices up to 4.1%, while about 354 goods and services may experience  price increase less than 5.8%.

Pua said although Najib conceded that a higher 37.5% of goods and services will face an increase in price, he claimed that these increases will actually be less than the tax rate of 6%.

"How the Ministry of Finance, tasked with the ultimate responsibility of managing our country’s economy, can come up with such preposterous statistics is beyond me?" asked Pua.