PARLIAMENT The government spent RM593 million subsidising tolls, Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani said.

"This is to subsidise toll (rates) that were not raised," Johari said during Minister's Question Time today.

He said this while responding to a question from Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS-Rantau Panjang) on how the government ensured targeted subsidies reached the target group.

Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid (BN-Kota Tinggi) then asked whether the government would make use of MyKads to control distribution of subsidies.

Johari however said this is not feasible at the moment, as rural areas did not have the infrastructure for such a mechanism to work.

Meanwhile, later in the House, the minister said the government had to rationalise subsidies and implement the goods and services tax following decreased oil revenue.

He said if such measures were not taken, it would have a serious impact on the economy and Malaysians.

"The government deficit would go up by five percent, and the country's (financial) ratings would drop," he said.

Johari said this would cause interest rates to rise, including for housing loans.

This in turn will have a negative impact on household debt, he said.