Govt mulling new taxes once the economy recovers, says Zafrul
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s government will pay more attention to economic sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic such as tourism and retail, and will wait for the recovery to gain traction before considering any new taxes, said the finance minister yesterday.
The Finance Ministry was studying the possibility of a consumption tax, but “we have decided this is not the right time to introduce any new form of taxation,” said Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “After the economy has recovered, we need to relook at widening our revenue base.”
Bank Negara Malaysia will disclose its gross domestic product forecast in its annual report due on March 31, but Tengku Zafrul said for now, the government was maintaining its expectation that the economy would grow 6.5 to 7.5 per cent this year after contracting 5.6 per cent last year.
“The focus of the government today is on the economy’s revival; we would like to jumpstart the economy,” he said.
“We have to balance between short-term fiscal injection to the economy with medium- to longterm fiscal consolidation.”
The World Bank, in its regional projections released yesterday, said it expected Malaysia’s economy to expand six per cent this year, slower than the 6.7 per cent forecast previously, after factoring the recent spike in Covid-19 infections, political uncertainty and slower-than-expected vaccine rollout in developed economies.