'Economic policy takes into account current habits, not just assumptions'

SHAH ALAM - Malaysians need an economic policy that takes into account current habits, not assumptions based on papers.

Bersatu Youth (Armada) chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said public policies based on a one-size-fits-all, "imaginary" model are no longer relevant.

"The Economy Minister said that the Central Database Hub (Padu) system, which is said to be based on income, will be used in the upcoming economic policy, including the targeted subsidy system.

"We know that the income survey system in Malaysia is flawed because a large portion of the population does not report their income for tax purposes.

"The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) itself can only make estimates. Based on what was said by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, we believe that his understanding is based on a flawed assumption," he said in a Facebook post today.

On May 15, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim agreed to establish Padu to consolidate socioeconomic information from each household to strengthen the implementation of targeted subsidies in the country.

The Machang MP said Rafizi's proposed economic model, which aims to allocate subsidies based on disposable income, is deemed illogical due to the distinct spending patterns exhibited by various demographic groups.

"Unless the government wants to impose the same spending habits on everyone, as practiced by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) in individual income tax deductions, it is generally agreed that the LHDN method is unfair, irrelevant, and burdensome for the people.

"Economic behaviour like this is expected to become mainstream 10 years from now, and there are already Nobel Prize-winning economists in this field, but the Madani government is still captivated by their paper models," he said.