Price hike: Govt should help reduce the people's burden

SHAH ALAM- The government should help the people who are currently stressed out and affected by the price hike of goods.

Ikhlas Capital chairman and co-founder Tan Sri Mohamed Nazir Abdul Razak said the issue on price hikes was inevitable and happened in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

However, he said the government could help the people by increasing its revenues.

“We need to look at it in terms of the government's ability to help the people in need. I think, if we want the government to be able to help more, we also need to see how it could get the money.

"Therefore, the government needs to review the tax system in the country to tackle the issue of the rising prices of goods which was affecting the people.

"Changes need to be done to increase the government's revenue, thus to enable it to provide greater assistance to those in need," he said in an exclusive interview with Sinar Harian, here, on Thursday.

Previously, Nazir suggested that the government consider imposing 'windfall tax' (durian runtuh) for the rich or T20 group.

He said this was the right time for the tax system to be re-evaluated to balance out the adverse effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the country's economy.

Apart from that, Nazir said the government should also impose additional taxes on giant companies such as glove companies to help the people.

On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it was difficult for the government to control the price of cooked food compared to raw materials as there were no guidelines so far.

However, he said the government had handed over the matter to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) for further action.