It is the depreciation of the ringgit's value - not the unscrupulous actions of certain traders - that is keeping the prices of goods high despite the recent drop in oil prices said PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli today.

Rafizi pointed to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) which showed that although the overall prices of locally-manufactured goods had dropped by seven percent over the past year, import prices remained the same meaning the combined prices for goods remained at the same levels.

Hence, he said, the government should not be looking at traders, but should looking at ways and means to bring down the import prices which in turn wpuld bring down the overall prices of goods and services in the local market.

Rafizi ( right ) was referring to the comments by Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob last month who blamed Chinese traders for not lowering the prices of their goods and services despite the steep drop in oil prices.

"This PPI index report proves that the falling value of the ringgit will ensure that prices of good and services stay expensive even though local manufactured products have had their prices reduced," said Rafizi.

The index showed that import prices only dropped by 0.2 percent over the past year.

“In an economy that relies heavily on imported goods especially in terms of food, this will definitely influence the prices of goods paid by the consumer,” he said.

He said as such, the depreciation of ringgit is not something that can be taken lightly.

“This report also raises a question, if the factory prices for good locally had reduced, why is this not reflected in end prices for consumers?” he asked.

As such, Rafizi said that the current laws to control prices of good are not being used adequately or are not effective.