Govt still has space to control nation's expenditure - Economy Minister

KUALA LUMPUR - The government still has space to monitor the country's expenditure particularly development expenditure to ensure it is more prudent and accurate according to the project plans and this will indirectly assist the government in terms of better revenue needs.

Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli said, if the goverment is able to manage the imlementation of an approved project well and ensure it is carried out within the allocated expenditure without the increase in cost from year to year, certainly the need to spend is reduced.

"When the need (to spend) is reduced, the project proceeds smoothly and with no delays, as we are in a deficit budget position, then the need for allocation is reduced, debt will also be lower.

"Hence, in the next 12 to 15 months, there's no need to (introduce) new taxes, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and others. Planning project implementation better would help raise government revenue," he said after delivering his address at the HSBC Asian Business Forum here, today.

Meanwhle, Mohd Rafizi said the government should look at GST as a better tax collection mechanism and not a mechanism for it to collect more taxes. - BERNAMA