New taxes will only be introduced when economy recovers - Tengku Zafrul

He said besides the reintroduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the government was also examining new taxes that are appropriate.

"At this moment, when the country is in the process of an economic recovery, I don't think it is appropriate (for us) to implement a new tax.

The committee to review the new taxation system was set up at end-2019, said Tengku Zafrul.

He said apart from increasing revenue, the government was also committed to reducing the country's debt from 60 per cent, expand the high-impact sector, as well as reduce the leakages in the shadow economy whose size is now estimated at 21 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).