Muhyiddin: Review of subsidies unavoidable

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MUAR: Although the move to review subsidies will not go down well with the people, it is incumbent on a responsible government to do it, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that as a responsible government, it must manage development and the economy well to avoid making the people shoulder a worse burden un future.

“Anything that involves cost increases to the people will make the government unpopular.

“Although we want to be popular, but at the same time we also have to discharge our responsibility to the people,” he said in Pagoh near here yesterday.

He told this to reporters after holding a ‘meet-the-people’ session with the residents of Kampung Tulang Gajah, Lenga, Pagoh near here where he

also received membership application forms to join Umno from villagers of Kampung Sentosa, an Orang Asli village.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, said good ecomomic and financial management would ensure the country did not follow in the footsteps of several countries in Europe like Greece and Portugal which needed bail outs.

Muhyiddin said, if the nation’s economy faced a downturn because of poor economic and financial management, it would have an adverse impact on the people.

According to him, the government wanted the see the nation’s fiscal deficit which stood at 5.4 per of Gross Domestic Product now, reduced through subsidy rationalisation.

“The government wants this (fiscal deficit) to be reduced because if it continues to rise, we fear Malaysia’s economic rating will drop and cause investors to shy away which will result in opportunities lost in terms of new jobs.

“If this happens, the people will have to shoulder the burden,” he said.

Muhyiddin, however, said the government would continue its subsidy programme but had to ensure only the right people benefited like those in the lower income group, the disabled and the poor.

“We will not withdraw subsidies entirely,” he said.

Currently, the government is providing subsidies for essential items like fuels, sugar, cooking gas and flour as well as electricity.

Muhyiddin said fuel subsidies alone were costing the government about RM10 bilion annually and that if world oil prices continued to rise, the figure would reach 14 billion this year.

He added that there was no other country like Malaysia, which was willing to shoulder a big financial burden by providing subsidies to ensure the cost of goods were kept low. — Bernama