KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans to reintroduce the Goods and Service Tax (GST) or any broad-base consumption taxes to reduce the country's debt.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would instead opt for other measures to reduce national expenditures and the government's liability that had reached RM1.5 trillion, comprising 82 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"What we will implement include the subsidy reduction for the wealthy, such as the electric tariff for the T20 categories.
"As I have explained before in previous session (in the Dewan Rakyat), the government has decided to impose subsidy reduction on the T20 categories, as well as multinational and large companies, except those dealing with food security even when the previous administration decided to increase the tariff," he said during the Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Anwar said this in response to Taiping member of parliament Wong Kah Woh on the government's plan to tackle the country's increasing debt.
Meanwhile, Anwar also said the government's debt stood at RM1079.6 trillion currently, including the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) which amounted to RM18.2 billion.
He added that the efforts taken by the government was to restore good governance as the spending of money was due to weak management and leakages that led to the increase of the country's debt.
Anwar said the government would also strengthen its efforts to reduce the country's debt, including restoring good governance and administration, as the spending of money (during previous administration) was due to poor management and leakages that led to an increase in the country's debt.
"As the country's debt is higher than the economic growth, other measures to be taken include reviewing the public expenditure and for the revenue base to expand without burdening the people, particularly in the education, health and basic needs sector.
"Further details will be explained in the retabling of Budget 2023," he said.