Need to control household debt

Publication: NST

Date of publication: Oct 26, 2013

Section heading: Main Section

Page number: 025

Byline / Author: By Dr Irwan Shah Zainal Abidin

I WELCOME the move by the government to announce the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in an attempt to improve its deficit although I think the measures to control the household debt is somewhat lacking in terms of making the economy more resilient.

With the introduction of special committees and the new approach of auditing projects, I hope that the wastage and leakages exposed in the Auditor-General's Report will be reduced in the near future.

With the Outcome-Based Budgeting (OBB), the practices of approving supplementary budgets in the future can hopefully be stopped. In an economy where it is not in recession, this practice can be considered somewhat unnatural.

Overall, it is a carefully planned Budget to balance the need to improve the economic fiscal position on one hand, and to mitigate the rising cost of living on the other.

Dr Irwan Shah Zainal Abidin,

Senior lecturer, School Of Economics, Finance and Banking, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah