KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — The government will not introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) or broad-based consumption tax, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
Instead, he said the government will tighten subsidies for the rich, similar to what has been done with subsidies on electricity.
“Like I explained in the previous session, although it was a decision made by the previous government, to increase electrify tariff, the government now has withdrawn the suggestion and will only impose that on the T20 that are the multinational corporations and other big companies, unless they are companies that are involved in food security,” Anwar said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
T20 refers to the top 20 per cent of the country’s income bracket.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, added that similar steps have been taken with diesel subsidies in the past.
“Diesel subsidy for 2022 for example was RM20 billion. But in the Auditor-General’s study and other studies, half of that volume was sold through petrol stations.
“Which means, if we can save five to six billion from that leakage, it will help.
“Similarly, in a few other matters, in terms of economic growth generation, the preparedness of domestic and foreign investors that have begun to come to Malaysia, I believe revenue will increase without having to burden the people in general,” he said.
The possibility of GST making a comeback arose last month when Anwar revealed Malaysia’s current national debt to be at RM1.5 trillion.
