SHAH ALAM, 2 May: The arrogance of the Federal Government to continue to implement the goods and services tax (GST) on 1 April 2015, despite being opposed by many, proves that they are getting more desperate to reduce the worsening national debt.
The Central PAS Working Committee member, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, said that Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) do not have any other choice as the national debt has reached 58.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), with a value of RM543.8 billion so far.
He said that this amount does not include the debt guaranteed by the government for government-linked companies (GLC) in the form of contingent liability amounting to RM163 billion.
“This means that if any GLC fails to implement a project, for example the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project, and are unable to pay their bond loan, it will all be borne by the government.
“In addition to that, the fiscal deficit has continued for 16 years, so BN is of the opinion that the GST is the fastest and secure way to obtain a new source of revenue,” he told Selangor Kini today.
The Umno-owned media, Utusan Malaysia, reported today that the government will not bow to pressure from any party for the GST to not be implemented on 1 April 2015.
The Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, said that the GST will still be implemented without any doubt after the government took into account all relevant factors to ensure the well-being of the people.
He said that the implementation of the GST will not burden the people because at a rate of six percent, Malaysia will be the eight among 161 countries that imposes the lowest GST rate when it is implemented.
Dr Dzulkefly, who is also the former Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor, said that BN is taking this approach to enforce the GST as the sales and service tax (SST) which was previously imposed is considered to be inefficient and unprofitable to the government.
“The GST would give a luxurious and efficient collection, as the collection for the first year (GST revenue) would be RM5 billion.
“They (BN) are not afraid because the 14th General Election (GE14) is still a long way to go, and when it is near, they will just increase the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) to RM1,200 or RM100 a month to defuse the people’s anger,” he said.
