Zeti: Impact of GST will be discussed at meeting

Implications of the tax on the country's growth, consumption spending, investment activity and inflation will be addressed, says Bank Negara governor.

KUALA LUMPUR: The impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) impact will be among the issues to be discussed during the monetary policy committee meeting next week, said Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

She said the meeting will address the implications of the GST on the country’s growth, consumption spending, investment activity and inflation.

“This (the GST impact) is still being monitored. We are also in an environment where we have lower oil prices that is offsetting (the impact),” she told reporters after presenting Kijang Emas Scholarships to recipients here today.

Zeti was asked if there had been early signs of prices of goods increasing faster than expected after the GST implementation coupled with rising costs globally.

She said based on the experience of 169 countries that have implemented the GST or value added tax, implications would arise in the first year of implementation.

The governor further explained that it usually takes a year or two before a new tax system sets in and stabilises, and some countries have managed to do it a litter faster, while others have taken a longer time.

– BERNAMA