A significant 70 per cent of Malaysians polled said that they feel that it is more difficult to make ends meet in 2014, research house Ipsos Malaysia said.

Ipsos Malaysia executive director Katherine Davis ( left ) said that this is driven by anxiety of the goods and services tax, which will be implemented on Apr 1, 2015.

“The announcement of the upcoming GST has increased anxiety this year about making ends meet, as there is a perception that prices will begin to go up from this year onwards.

“This is especially a cause for concern those in the lower-income groups,” Davis said in a statement.

According to the poll, conducted via telephone on 1,000 respondents nationwide last March, those most concerned about their economic position are those earning less than RM3,000 and rural-dwellers.

“Malaysians living in rural areas are the most concerned about their personal finance situation in 2014, followed closely by those living in market centres,” she said.

The survey found 65 per cent of Malaysians in rural areas expressed concern in 2014, compared to 53 per cent the year before.

Comparatively, 52 per cent of those living in cities expressed concerned, up from 39 per cent in 2013.

More confidence

However, Davis said that despite feeling the pinch this year, Malaysians of all ethnicities believe that the Malaysian economy is doing better this year compared to 2013.

Those most optimistic are Malays, with 67 per cent believing the economy is improving, compared to 55 per cent who felt the same last year.

This is followed by the Indians (59 per cent, up five per cent), with the Chinese being the least optimistic with only 37 per cent feeling the economy is looking up.

Even this was an improvement compared to 2013, when less than a quarter polled held the same sentiment.

“When it comes to the 2014 economic outlook for Malaysia, there is a greater sense of confidence among Malaysians this year than there was in 2013.

“These findings are corroborated by wider economic data that showed a strong performance in the first quarter of this year, particularly in the construction, manufacturing and services sectors,” she said.

Malaysia's gross domestic product went up 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year, following an upward trend since 2013.

Ipsos also found that most of those who are more optimistic about the economy this year compared to the last are between the ages of 25-34. Those aged 55-64 feel the same about the economy.

Ipsos Malaysia is part of Ipsos, a global market research company founded in France in 1975.