‘Pakatan’s alternative budget repetition of old promises with no clear financing plan’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Alternative Budget unveiled by Pakatan Harapan yesterday is a repetition of old promises, produced by the same opposition that fails to provide a clear and consistent plan on how these promises will be fulfilled and financed.

In a statement yesterday, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said the coalition, among others, promised to abolish Goods and Services Tax ( GST) and tolls as well offer free higher education.

The latest Alternative Budget fell short in terms of substance and the Opposition was busy selling political rhetorics to mask their failure in coming up with a credible economic agenda, he said.

“As a matter of fact, the abolition of GST will leave a big hole in the government’s revenue that needs to be filled up.

“Instead of sharing with us their plans to compensate this drop in revenue, they are only relying on the questionable assumption that a tax cut will result in higher consumption and tax collection,” he said.

Mustapa said an economic agenda would only be credible if the planned expenditures were backed with necessary revenuegenerating measures.

“For a political coalition that keeps on spreading their unsubstantiated claims that Malaysia is heading towards bankruptcy under the Barisan Nasional government, they are actually the ones driving Malaysia into that direction with their fiscal irresponsibility,” he said.

He said the Budget 2018, to be unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday, would be a sound and responsible economic plan needed to elevate the country’s status to a high-income economy, in contrast to what the Opposition has to offer.

“I appeal to the objectivity of the public not to be deceived by the populist and unsustainable measures outlined in the Alternative Budget,” he said. — Bernama