Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia would have been irresponsible if the country had not introduced the goods and services tax (GST) because the GST had saved the nation amid lower crude oil prices.

Najib said the 6% GST, implemented since April 1, 2015, has widened the country's tax base.

"It would have been easier not to do so, as what appears to be a new tax — even though it simply replaced an old one — can seem to be a disruption. We knew it wouldn't be popular. But it would have been irresponsible not to have brought in GST.

"It's not just that we needed to widen the tax base, which is one reason why over 160 countries around the world have a form of GST. It is also that with the plunge in the price of oil, GST saved us," he said in his speech at the 13th World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuching, Sarawak, today. Najib posted his speech on najibrazak.com.

Najib said responsible governments had to change their policies according to changing circumstances.

"If we do not adjust our policies, our nation loses its competitive edge and gets overtaken by other countries. We cannot — and must not — allow that. We knew that if we are to achieve our goal of becoming a high-income status nation by 2020, we had to make changes. That is true leadership," he said.

 

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