PUTRAJAYA, 20 JAN, 2010: Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism, Datuk Seri  Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today that the mechanism to be implemented for the new fuel price system which will start on May 1 will be announced soon.

“We still have no idea how it will be but it will require the use of MyKad,” he said at his ministry’s office.

Ismail also said that there will not be a price hike on essential goods anytime soon and his is because petrol prices have not been increased and the new mechanism affecting petrol subsidies does not involve diesel.

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Datuk Seri  Ismail Sabri Yaakob addressing the press at his

ministry office.

"Essential goods are usually ferried by vehicles using diesel, and the price of diesel remains the same, so petrol prices will not cause an increase in the price of goods," he told reporters here today.

Earlier, Ismail Sabri has said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the period between January and December last year shot up by 0.6 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.

He said, in December a 0.2 per cent increase was recorded compared to the previous month, while a 1.1 per cent increase was recorded that month comparedto the corresponding month in the previous year.

Ismail Sabri said the rise was caused by increased prices of jewellery such as gold and precious stones, which shot up by 35 per cent, in addition to the higher prices of fish, seafood and vegetables due to the rainy season in November and December.

The price of fresh fish went up by 2.1 per cent while the price of other seafood increased by 1.6 per cent, he said.

"Overall the price of goods nationwide is under control," he said.

However, Ismail Sabri said a downward trend could be seen for the CPI throughout last year, whereby 3.9 per cent was recorded in January, 3.8 per centin February, 3.7 per cent in March and 0.6 per cent in December.

When asked if the same trend would be expected this year, Ismail Sabri said it was hard to predict as the CPI also involved imported goods.

"I think by February it will stop raining and the price of fish and vegetables should return to normal.

"However, there are other things out of our control that can happen, such as the recent price hike on imported garlic from China and large onions from India," he said.

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