KJ: GST won't burden consumers

Khairy Jamaluddin talks about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the state of the economy, and Najib Abdul Razak's first year as Prime Minister in the second part of an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.

The Umno Youth chief wants an assurance from the government that the GST won't burden the consumers.

While the Bill's second reading has been postponed from the current parliamentary session, Khairy (left) suggested it could be better for the government to introduce GST now if all the implementation agencies are ready, so the people could see, assess it, and not see it being made an election issue.

"Its implementation will bring about 'neutral inflation' as its effects will only be one-off. But what is more important is that the teething problems be addressed first before implementation," he said.

The Rembau MP jolted the interviewers when he revealed Anwar Ibrahim tried to introduce GST as early as in 1993, when he was the Finance Minister.