Several essential items have been placed under the price control scheme, effective today until Jan 30, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs Ministry deputy head of enforcement in Sabah, Balwant Singh Pritam Singh, advised traders against increasing the prices of their goods.

He said they should also use pink price tags to differentiate the controlled items from other goods.

“We are serious and will monitor the prices of the affected goods,” he told reporters after monitoring the prices of goods at the Kota Kinabalu Main market today.

He said that so far, there had been no complaints of a hike in prices of goods or shortage of essential items.

- Bernama