Phoong
KOTA KINABALU (2 JUNE): The government should focus on fighting against inflation, not reintroducing the Goods and Service Tax (GST), said Democratic Action Party Sabah secretary Phoong Jin Zhe.
He said reintroducing the GST is a wrong cure to the economy and it would most likely worsen the situation for ordinary citizens and working classes.
“We must learn from our history, in 2017, Malaysia experienced one of the highest inflation rates in March 2017, 5.1% after the government implemented the GST.
“This means reintroducing GST now is indirectly killing the people in my opinion. Ordinary citizens and businesses would have to suffer double the damage from price hikes if the government decides to implement the GST again. This would only widen the poverty gap, as the poor would only continue to suffer and the wealthy would gain more,” said Phoong who is Luyang assemblyman.
According to him, the people have been suffering from price hikes on all items recently and yet the government has not taken any action to cushion the damage.
“I doubt that this government has any policies to fight the inflation rate that continues to rise,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Phoong added Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) had reported that up to April, food inflation increase to 4.1% y-o-y (year-on-year). This rate is similar to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s time after the former Prime Minister implemented the GST.
“According to several reports, eateries have increased their selling prices again starting from June. This is because prices of raw materials such as wheat flour and meat products (chicken, pork and etc) continue to spike.
“In Kota Kinabalu, a plate of Kon Lao Mee would averagely cost RM9 before this. However, many have reviewed their prices and increased to RM10 per bowl now. The working class especially the middle-low income groups are those who continue to suffer financially.
“The Chief Statistician of the Department of Statistic Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, has mentioned that inflation in Malaysia has broken several records. Up to 89.1% products related to food and beverages have experienced a significant increase in price. In April, it has already increased to 4.1%.
“This would severely affect the disposable income of many households. A family could have sustained their living with RM2,000 monthly but I doubt they could now. Many families have also reduced dining in eateries by shifting to home-cooked meals,” he said.
Phoong added Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri had said that the government would gain approximately RM20 billion tax if it reintroduced the GST, but he had to understand that this money is literally robbed from the great public. It does not help the underprivileged but harm them further financially.
“Bear in mind that GST is a regressive tax that would not much affect the top income groups. However, it is definitely not beneficial to our economy in the long run as majority Malaysians would suffer a financial hit. Poverty gap in Malaysia would only continue to be wider.
“I suggest to the government to focus on stimulating the economy by improving job opportunities by creating decent paying employment opportunities. Develop our local food and beverage industry to stop relying heavily on imports. Stop the thought of grabbing money from ordinary Malaysians and Sabahans when the economy is recessive,” he said.