Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wants Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan to specify "who is the liar?" in the issue of price setting for affordable housing in Penang.

He said the state was merely following the federal government's guideline for affordable housing.

"It is very clear that the pricing was determined by the federal government, where Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced it in 2012 when he presented the 2013 budget," Lim told reporters in Bayan Baru today.

"Perhaps, Abdul Rahman was not a minister yet then, perhaps he cannot remember. But to say that I lied about affordable housing is not only wild, untruthful but irresponsible."

"He better get his facts right; when he said I lied, it also raises the question: did Najib lie?" asked the CM, after officiating the Whistleblower Policy at the Penang Development Corporation.

"It seems that we are always wrong, whether we follow or do not follow the federal government guidelines," quipped the DAP secretary-general.

Lim was referring to Rahman who said yesterday that the chief minister lied about the affordable housing rate capped at RM400,000.

The Kota Belud MP made the remark in the Dewan Rakyat when he was asked to explain the differing rate for affordable housing between the states.

Rahman said setting RM400,000 as the maximum price for affordable housing was done by the DAP state government and not the federal government.

He also claimed that the federal government never agreed for affordable housing to be set at RM400,000.

At the press conference today, Lim showed proof that it was the federal government's guidelines which set the price setting for affordable housing.

He referred to a Bernama report on Oct 25, 2013 which quoted the Ministry of Finance as stating in its Economic Report 2013/2014 that a total of 320,000 will own homes - costing between RM100,000 to RM400,000 per unit under the affordable housing programme.

Lim also cited documents by PR1MA - established as a statutory board under the 2012 PR1MA Act - which stated that the maximum price of houses under My First Home scheme are priced between RM220,000 to RM400,000.

Asked if the Penang government would now consider lowering the affordable housing price range, Lim said "yes".

"But we would have to refer to our legal adviser and discuss the matter to see if this possible," Lim added.

Currently, affordable homes in Penang are being sold at a price range of RM220,000 to RM400,000.