KINIBIZ The wealthy tend to benefit more from subsidies than the poor, with the richest Malaysians Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan among recipients of government subsidies, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said.
“Giving subsidies is a stupid policy,” he said during a Budget 2015 briefing to Inland Revenue Board employees at the tax collection agency’s Cyberjaya headquarters today.
“If Malaysiakini were here, my comments will probably be uploaded in a matter of minutes,” he said.
The fuel subsidy cut on Oct 2 was made in the interest of fairness to the rakyat, Ahmad told his audience.
A full tank of petrol for a motorbike is just 7.5 litres while for a Mercedes-Benz a full tank is 75 litres, he said.
“Which consumes more petrol? Should subsidies be paid to the rich or to the poor?” he asked to meek response from his audience.
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