The Finance Ministry admitted that the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has caused some businesses, especially those owned by the elderly, to close shop.

" GST, however, was not the main reason why the businesses ' gulung tikar ' (close shop)," said the ministry in a parliamentary written reply yesterday.

There were reports of traditional businesses being forced to close down as the GST loomed and some actually did during the two months of its implementation.

"The businesses were ran by the elderly group who has no one to inherit and these were among the many factors which led to the closure of most of the businesses," the ministry said in reply to Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) who asked how many business premises closed down due to GST.

However, the ministry stressed that the businesses concerned were those with revenue below the threshold of RM500,000.