SHAH ALAM, 25 Apr: The implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), on 1 April 2015, is not the solution to the national debt and deficit problem the country is facing for a long time.
The Central PAS Working Committee Member, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, said that the problem will not be solved if habits of spending lavishly, wastage and leakages, as well as corruption, are not addressed.
Instead, he said that leakage is the government’s ‘pot’ which should be addressed first to ensure that national finances are in financial stability.
Based on the report by Maybank Berhad, the national debt for 2013 is expected to increase to RM541.3 billion and will increase to RM578.4 billion from the total GDP.
“However much may be collected (through the GST), which is said to be from RM20 to RM27 billion by the government, the debt and deficit will still not be overcome because of the ‘pot leakage’, which must be addressed first,” he said.
In the meantime, Dr Dzulkefly, who is the former Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor, also slammed the National Discourse programme with representatives of the government broadcast on television recently by saying that it fails to answer questions regarding the GST in a comprehensive and specific manner.
He said that government representatives, consisting of the Customs GST Director and the Member of Parliament for Titiwangsa from Barisan Nasional (BN) during the interview are not enough in ensuring that the interests of the people, as consumers, are defended.
“In the one-hour discourse programme aired, many issues are not worked on comprehensively and with finality.
“Among my calls is to prove that the GST will not be burdensome, especially to the low and middle income earners, or is unjust or regressive.
“The Customs GST Director tried desperately to convince viewers, but facts and research findings from Customs are still not strong to defend allegations,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said that his argument was based on the Economic and Finance Cluster statement and the National Professors Council that the implementation of the GST will burden the low and middle income earners, despite basic necessities are ‘exempt’ from the tax.
