Malaysia has no plans to restore GST as fiscal deficit narrows
Anwar said concern over the burden on lower-income households, rather than politics, underpinned the government's tax position.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim reaffirmed in the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia's government has no plans to reinstate the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He also reported a fiscal deficit of 3.7 per cent for 2025, down from 6.4 per cent in 2021.
Anwar said the GST position was intended to spare the public an additional financial burden, particularly people on low incomes, and was not politically motivated. He projected the deficit would narrow further to 3.3 per cent by 2027 and said new government borrowing had fallen from RM100 billion in 2021 to RM75.6 billion in 2025.
The prime minister said his administration uses new borrowing for development projects, including schools, hospitals, roads and water and electricity supply. It must also meet financial obligations inherited from previous administrations, he said, citing RM13 billion required in 2023 for the settlement of 1MDB bonds.
In other parliamentary business, allocations for the ministries responsible for natural resources and environmental sustainability, higher education, domestic trade and cost of living, and home affairs won committee-stage approval by majority voice vote. Committee-stage scrutiny of the 2027 Budget is scheduled to run until November 26, with winding-up sessions for another 16 ministries still to come.
