Guan Eng tells banks to be more flexible in lending

Be flexible, unless you prefer windfall tax, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to the banks today.

He said there have been many complaints with regard to the difficulties in obtaining financing, even as the banks record huge profits - with some registering their largest ever - last year.

"We want to ask the banks to be more flexible in their lending arrangement because we got many complaints (about it).

"So, I think it's time for you to start lending or unless you prefer windfall taxes," he said in his keynote address at the Invest Malaysia 2019 capital market forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

Lim added that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed had announced that the government had no intention to introduce new taxes on top of what was announced during the 2019 Budget.

"So, I think there should be some positive news for the business community. There is a lot of interest in taxes and of course we are still fine-tuning the imposition of sales and services tax (SST)," he added.

- Bernama