KUALA LUMPUR: The local economy would have collapsed had Putrajaya not introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
He was responding to a question by DAP’s Liew Chin, Tong who claimed the consumption tax had weakened consumer spending and asked if the government planned to halve the GST from the current 6 per cent t to mitigate.
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“This is a negative interpretation by the Opposition. Without GST, the Malaysian economy will collapse,” Najib, who is also finance minister, told the Dewan Rakyat today. Liew later defended his question during in a press conference outside Parliament, and disputed the prime minister’s assertion.
“The saviour of our economy is domestic demand but this has been eaten by GST. That was the logic of the question, I’m disappointed with PMs reply,” the Kluang MP told reporters outside.
Putrajaya introduced the GST in April last year in a bid to broaden the country’s tax base and address an over-reliance on petroleum-derived income.
