Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said the government does not plan to increase the goods and services tax (GST) rate even as it expects a revenue shortfall of RM30 billion from the oil and gas industry this year.
He noted that the government is committed to assisting the middle and lower-income group as well as efficiently manage the fiscal deficit which could lead to steady economic growth.
The Government Not Plan To Increase GST Rate Click To Tweet“Although the Government is facing a difficult time due to revenue loss from the oil and gas industry, the Government will not increase the GST rate,” he said yesterday at the signing of an agreement for the proposed issue of sukuk wakalah for the Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway project in Putrajaya.
Notably, the sukuk wakalah is one of to be the biggest issuance for a new highway construction project.
The Malaysian government introduced a six percent GST on 1 April 2015.
“This time around is a difficult period for the government. Certainly, we need to manage our fiscal deficit because we do not want our deficit to become too huge as it will affect our ratings. Interest rates will go up and this will affect all sectors,” he added.
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