Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's statement that the government cannot fund programmes without GST is insulting to women, according to PKR strategic director Sim Tze Tzin.

He said this is because women are often the ones buying essentials for their family using their meagre income and allowances from their spouses, and are, therefore, the hardest hit by the tax.

“This is an ironic statement because it is women who are the biggest consumers since they have to buy goods for their families so they are the biggest spenders in Malaysia. Because of that, women are terribly burdened by price increases due to GST.

“Now the prime minister says there can only be women's programmes with GST. I think that is insulting to women. In actuality, they are the victims in this issue,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Bayan Baru MP was responding to Najib’s speech at the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) dialogue session in conjunction with National Women's Day 2017 yesterday.

In his speech, Najib said the consumption tax is a major source of government revenue and scrapping it would jeopardise the Women's Ministry's as well as health and education programmes.

“That is why if you criticise GST, if you demonise GST, please remember (that the tax) is a big source of revenue for your programmes.

“If you remove the RM42 billion income it (GST) contributes to the national economy…all Women's Ministry programmes won’t be able to run. As well as health and education programmes.

“I am not fooling you, I am the minister of finance,” he had said.

Pakatan Harapan had pledged to abolish GST within 100 days of coming into power.

Najib had responded on several occasions by questioning the opposition on how it would cover the RM42 billion shortfall in revenue if GST is abolished. Economic experts have likewise questioned the plan’s feasibility.

Meanwhile, at today's press conference, Amanah strategic director Dzulkefly Ahmad said the taxes would never be enough as long as the government does not tackle “leakages” in its spending such as the problems often highlighted in the auditor-general’s reports.

“As long as the leakages are not dealt with, it is like a leaking clay pot. If the pot is leaking, we will never be able to fill the pot no matter how many new taxes we introduce.

“The burden would then be borne by the people,” he said.

He quoted economists Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Muhammed Abdul Khalid saying that the rising cost of living is partly due to GST.

He said the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research had also found that the consumer sentiment index is below the 100-point benchmark due to the high prices of goods.

Amanah communication director and Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad, who was also present, said the prime minister's speech is an admission of failure.

He said it showed that the economy cannot run without raising new taxes rather than increasing productivity, efficiency or reducing graft.