Prime Minister Najib Razak has questioned Pakatan Harapan’s ability to garner additional revenue when the revenue collected from the implementation of GST is RM 42 billion. How can Harapan collect RM 42 billion if GST were to be abolished, he asked?

The following herewith are several measures that can be taken up by Harapan that would not only benefit the people, but also stimulate financial growth without the implementation of GST.

1. Proper planning of the country’s resources to avoid a deficit

The Najib Razak administration today has seen the national debt amass up to RM900 billion as a result of wasteful, unnecessary expenditures by the government, as well as corruption.

A national deficit materialises when the government spends more than what it has and what it can afford to spend, to the point that a debt will accrue due to the Government’s inefficient spending.

Unfortunately, at the end, it will be Malaysians who will be forced to bear the brunt of the nation’s debts.

In 2014, the Auditor General’s Report recorded an average of 15.5 percent as the government’s spending that was wasted that neither included the payroll nor the fixed charges and the like.

This amount of 15.5 percent if compared to the revenue of the government in 2017 had amounted to RM 136 billion and it is without a doubt that with a more efficient form of governance of the country’s resources and proper planning of the revenue collected, there is massive potential for the country to reserve costs of RM 21 billion.

2. Regulate the reception and intake of foreign workers

Based on a Bernama report dated June 29, 2015, the Malaysia Trade Union Congress (MTUC) reported that the number of foreign workers in Malaysia had peaked at 7 million foreign workers, of which only 2.1 million of them were registered here legally.

Data from the Malaysian Department of Statistics revealed that in 2016 there was an increase in registered foreign workers in which 3,265,100 foreign workers had registered legally....