PRICES OF 13 BASIC GOODS COMPARED: THEN & NOW

The major Goods and Services Tax (GST) cut on 13 basic household goods in the country that came into effect on June 1st, 2025, has now seen prices of essential goods like rice, tinned fish wheat flour and few others, dropped at least by a kina or toea. This was a relief for many thousands of households in Papua New Guinea (PNG) given the rising cost of living where every kina and toea spent matters more than ever. Before the GST cut on the 13 basic goods, the weight of price hikes pressed down on families, forcing tough decisions at every grocery store. The struggle was real throughout the country, now with the GST tax relief, will it be felt in every household? Citizens all around the country have raised both positive and negative opinions about the 10% GST cut by the government. Many citizens were delighted and expressed that it was a relief to see prices of goods like rice, wheat flour and chicken decrease during this tough economy times. Few other citizens stated that the Government’s call for a GST cut that removed a kina or toea on prices of 13 basic goods still does not change the fact that the cost of living is still high and people are still struggling. PNG HAUSBUNG when conducting price checks in major supermarkets have noted that the prices before June 1st were printed on white paper cards and the updated prices after the GST cut is now printed on yellow paper cards to indicate that these items are exempted from GST. The 13 basic items include: Baby diapers, Tinned fish, cooking oil, Biscuits, Wheat flour, Chicken, Instant Noodles, Coffee, Tinned Meat, Rice, Sanitary pads & Tampons, Soap and Tea. From our observation, PNG HAUSBUNG has noted the before and after price difference between few basic goods exempted from GST:

Item	Price before GST Cut	Price After GST cut
Baby diaper (SoftLove) x12	K14.95	K13.50
Chicken (Tray)	K18	K16.32
Rice (1K)	K7.20	K6.55
Tea (X10)	K2.60	K2.36
Tinned meat (Ox&Palm Red)	K18.95	K17.23
Tinned Fish (Ocean Blue)	K7.95	K7.23
Biscuits (Em Nau)	K1.30	K1.18
Wheat Flour (1kg)	K6.75	K6.14
Noodles (Maggi )	K1.45	K1.32

From our observation, PNG HAUSBUNG has noted that the prices of the 13 items zero-rated for Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective 1st June 2025 to 30th June 2026 has only been reduced by a just a Kina or toea. To some this may be a major relief as their shopping total may decrease by K10 or whatever amount but to others this may still be the same cost as before. The price for all 13 items named should be exempted from the GST in all shops in every province. Compliance enforcement will be conducted by the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), in close partnership with the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) and PNG Customs Service. These agencies will monitor pricing behavior, investigate complaints and take appropriate enforcement actions. The agencies are now calling on all members of the business community to cooperate in good faith and support this important policy by ensuring that consumers fully benefit from the GST exemptions.