NEW DELHI, Sept 23: New lower GST rates kicked in from Monday, resulting in a slashing of prices of as many as 375 items ranging from toothpaste and shampoo to cars and television sets, a move seen as an attempt to boost consumption to cushion an economy facing tariff headwinds.

Tax rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent have been clubbed into two rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, resulting in a reduced price of 99 per cent of daily use items.

FMCG, car companies, electronics manufacturers and pharma companies have lowered prices. As many as 375 items, including groceries, agri-equipment, clothing, medicines and automobiles, have got cheaper.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the busy Laxmi Nagar market in the national capital and interacted with a stationery shop owner.

“The

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