Price decrease denied

Malaysia’s Health Ministry has decided to maintain the price of cigarettes following the abolishing of the goods and services tax (GST) today, June 1, according to a story in The Star quoting the Health Minister, Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad.
“There will not be any decrease in price,” he said.
“That is our commitment to ensure that the prohibitive price is going to be one of the ways to prevent the use of cigarettes.”
Asked if other ministries had given their support to his ministry, Dzulkefly said he didn’t think this would be a problem. “We are almost on the same page on that one,” he said. “I can vouch on that.”
Currently, the prices of 20-piece packs of cigarettes range from RM12 to RM17, the Star reported. ‘With the zero-rated GST, the price of things will drop, including cigarettes, until the implementation of sales and services tax (SST),’ it said.
This was a huge window of opportunity for new smokers to pick up the habit, for current smokers to stock up, and for ex-smokers to fall off the wagon, a source familiar with the issue was quoted as saying.
To maintain the price of cigarettes, there was a need to increase excise tax, of which Malaysia was way below the minimum level recommended by the World Health Organization.