VIDEO l 4:51 mins

Implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will not be a miracle cure to save the country from bankruptcy, opposition MPs told Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

NONE PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and PAS' Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad also demanded that Najib make a firm stand on the country's financial situation and reveals to the people whether the country is financially healthy or is facing bankruptcy.

Najib was reported yesterday to have said that the country would face bankruptcy if GST was not implemented, while his deputy in the Finance Ministry, Ahmad Maslan, told Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the country is still in a sound financial situation.

"The GST will not cure everything. Hong Kong and the United States don't have GST, and they are not facing bankruptcy. Spain and Greece have GST, yet they are facing bankruptcy," Pua told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

'Failure to reinvent the economy'

Rafizi, meanwhile, said that the PM must be more consistent in assessing the country’s financial situation.

“Yesterday you said the country is facing bankruptcy, but your deputy said everything is good,” he said.

“The real problem is not GST, but Najib’s failure to combat corruption and reinvent the economy,” he added.

Khalid said that government revenue from oil income to the nation has more than tripled over the past decade, and there was no reason the oil income would not be enough to generate revenue for the government.

“In 2003, the price of oil was only US$20 a barrel. Now it is more than US$100. Our oil revenue has increased from US$11 billion a year to US$60 billion,” he said.

“That is why I say we have people falling asleep at the wheel here. When we say there were high crime rates in the country, they kept denying until suddenly they said they needed draconian laws otherwise the country will get into a state of emergency,” he said.

“Similarly, we have been saying the economy is not good since 1999. They kept denying it, but suddenly they have woken up and said we need GST otherwise we will face bankruptcy,” he added.