The likely raise of public transportation fares by as early as April next year is proving that the BN had planned 2014 to be 'Price Hike Year', PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli said today.

This also proved his theory, Rafizi said, that the BN had already planned to raise prices, one by one, in 2014, after the general election, before the kicking off the goods and services tax (GST) on April 1, 2015.

NONE"The BN knows that inflation will rise with GST and this will make it difficult for it to raise prices of essential goods, what more if the next general election is called in 2017 or 2018," he said.

The only way the BN could prove that he was wrong in this would be to shelve the likely rise in public transport fares until 2017.

If the BN pledges to do so, said Rafizi, who is the MP for Pandan, he would be willing to admit fault and apologise.

According to him, prices hikes were already in the works as early as 2009, with Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) openly speaking of subsidy cuts that would impact things such as highway toll charges, food prices and electricity tariffs.

GE13 delayed the price hikes

"However, these price hikes did not materialise as the BN was afraid it would ignite anger among the people and effect its support in the 13th general election.

"After the general election that returned BN to Putrajaya, the BN is taking this chance to implement the price hikes as planned," Rafizi said in a statement.

He said the price hikes, announced in quick succession, have knock-on effects through transport and fuel costs, and have now brought increases to the cost of basic goods and services.

"Even more nauseating is that the savings made by the federal government through these price hikes are now spent on big ticket projects and the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia, which do little to change the outcomes for people in the lower income.

"Although costing RM7 billion, the BR1M is insufficient to face these multiple price hikes," Rafizi added.