Govt won’t reimplement GST — Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will not reimplement the goods and services tax (GST). He discounted the possibility of implementing the tax for now, due to the current income status in Malaysia.

“GST remains the most transparent and efficient taxation system... the issue is when you have abject poverty and when the people do not even get the minimum pay, how do you have a transparent taxation system?” he asked in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday.

However, he did not rule out the reinstatement of GST should the average income level in the country increase to RM3,000-RM4,000.

Anwar also said the government is confident of a strong performance for the fourth quarter of 2022 as many positive changes were seen over the last few months.

“We are comfortable with the result of the fourth quarter. I hope we can sustain that,” he said when asked if the government will maintain 4-5 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) target for 2023.

According to BNM’s website, the central bank will release the 4Q 2022 GDP result on Feb 10, 2023.

Meanwhile, Anwar believes a government with good governance and democratic accountability will be able to attract more investors.

“If you have a system with very clear policies to encourage investments, (along with) the ease of doing business, fast, efficient and not corrupted, investors will come in,” he said.

Asked if his administration would maintain the fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent of the GDP for 2023, Anwar said the government would have to gradually reduce the deficit, but it should not be at the expense of public welfare, or the poor’s education and health.

“So, we have to navigate this very carefully,” he said, disclosing that the deficit target would be announced on Feb 24, 2023 when the revised Budget 2023 is tabled.

Nonetheless, Anwar said Malaysia is fortunate that the revenue from taxes had increased slightly, along with taxes from petroleum and gas.

On Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) settlement, Anwar appealed to the leading global financial institution to settle this deal with Malaysia.

“My only appeal is for them to settle this deal with Malaysia because 1MDB is known throughout the world.

“It is there in the books and I think that Goldman Sachs should come out clean and deal with Malaysia. Don’t think you can dismiss this as something small that you can just use your strength to dictate your terms,” he said.

Anwar also said he wanted to see a more responsible response from Goldman Sachs, so that this can come to an end.