Putrajaya delays GST enforcement, still ‘studying’ economic effects

BY SYED JAYMAL ZAHIID

JUNE 27, 2013

Husni Hanadzlah

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 – Putrajaya has yet to decide if it will carry out the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying it is only now “studying” the effects the proposal will have on Malaysia’s economy even as analysts warn of the country’s dire need to enhance its revenue base.

The introduction of the GST, which economists see as one of the most crucial methods to enlarge the government’s coffers, has been repeatedly put off as the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) feared suffering a political backlash in the run-up to the May 5 general election.

“(We have) not decided yet because we are now doing a study to see the impact particularly on our economy, on the people,” Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah (picture) told reporters in Parliament today.

“We know it will bring additional revenue to the government, we know that in terms of the private-sector economy, it will grow; we are looking at impact on the rakyat,” he said.

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