Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad promised to abolish the Good and Services Tax (GST) after they formed the federal government.
He said the GST, which was implemented in 2015, will be replaced with the Sales and Services Tax.
“It’s a cancellation. We don’t need it. We go back to the sales tax for the moment,” he said.
Futhermore, Dr Mahathir said the previous government’s undertakings on Malaysia’s trade and investments with China will be reviewed.
He said they will study and renegotiate the terms, if necessary, due to China’s long experience dealing with unequal treaties.
“What worries us is the amount of money borrowed by the (BN) government, RM55 billion just for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and lots of other borrowings, which will burden the country,” he added.
He said they aim to reduce the amount of money borrowed as this could negatively affect the country.
However, for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he said there was no issue with the idea except for the fact that Malaysia did not like to see too many warships in the region.
The BRI, which is a mega-development idea proposed by China in 2013, is also a multidimensional infrastructure network featuring land-sea-air transportation routes and supported by major railways, ports and pipeline projects.
