‘Najib must explain if Malaysia is next Greece’

Prime Minister Najib must come clean in explaining the true financial situation of the country; and not hide behind the GST.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli has urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to clarify on the country’s financial position, and further described that the government can no longer hide the reality that it was now facing fiscal downfall.

The PKR strategy director then questioned the reversal made by the Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan during yesterday’s parliament session when he said that Malaysia was still stable economically despite Najib mentioning that Malaysia was facing bankruptcy just a day earlier.

“Which is which? Are we going bankrupt or not?”

“Yesterday Ahmad Maslan said in the parliament that our economy is stable but his statements are contradicting with Najib’s,” said Rafizi.

Speaking at the parliament’s lobby this afternoon, he then said that Najib’s plan to avoid bankruptcy by implementing GST does not make any sense, citing Greece as an example. He said Greece which went bust despite implementing the Goods and Service Tax (GST).

“GST is not the cure for our economical instability. Our country is going bankrupt not because we don’t implement GST.

“Greece had GST and went bankrupt but the real issue is we fail to detect the real problem behind our financial problem,” he said.

“Corruption is rampant and we are over-spending our money on unnecessary stuff. GST is not a miracle cure and we fail to reinvent a better system to help our finances,” he said.

Rafizi added that Najib should be more consistent in his views and should be vocal to inform the public about Malaysia’s financial position.

“We need a firm answer from Najib. If we are stable then why we need GST?,” he asked.

“Thus the government can no longer keep quiet on this matter. Najib has to speak out and let the people be informed.”

The GST will come into effect starting April 1, 2015 at a rate of 6%.This was announced by Najib when tabling the 2014 budget in October.