RM4.8 bln govt revenue loss from SST exemption on purchase of vehicles since 2020

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the SST exemption had been extended for three times since, and the ministry is currently studying the impact and weighing its next action.

"The revenue forgone of RM4.8 billion is a huge amount which could be used to channel to help the people in their essentials.

"We need to thoroughly study the matter. If we decide to extend for another three months, we would lose at least RM1.2 billion and if we were to extend for another six months, we would lose about RM2.5 billion," he told reporters at the sideline of the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC) event to unveil its 2022 to 2026 strategic roadmap here today.

He also noted the government is also in need of more revenue in order to provide more subsidies for the rakyat in order to curb inflation.

Meanwhile, on the interest rate hike of 75 basis points by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, he said it was largely expected and the hike had already being factored in by the markets as inflation in the United States (US) is quite high at above eight per cent.

"Any move by developed countries such as the US, Europe and China would definitely have a global impact, and Malaysia as an open economy is not excluded.

"The expectations now is that the US economy would still grow but is expected to be slower. However, we will continue to monitor the impact of this development on Malaysia's economy," he said.

He said Malaysia's interest rate is still low, hence the need to consider the necessary monetary and fiscal intervention to protect the people from the effect of high inflation.

Tengku Zafrul said although the global economic move would have an impact, Malaysia's economic fundamental is still strong to cushion the impact.

On the ringgit's movement due to the US interest rate hike, he noted the ringgit somehow strengthened yesterday.

"The ringgit's movement depends on inflows and outflows, but we are not too worried about it. The US rate hike does not exclusively affect the ringgit but also other currencies. But insyaallah, as you can see, the ringgit had strengthened," he added.