KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Oct: The increase of the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the Budget 2015 is unable to accommodate the increase in fuel costs and the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) which the people have to bear.
This is because those with a household income of less than RM4,000 a month will witness the effects of increased expenditure of between RM140 and RM7000 a year because of the GST, said Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that clearly the people still need to spend more than the BR1M if added with the cost increase in petrol and diesel of 20 cents recently.
“Clearly, a large part of the BR1M is forced to be used to accommodate the burden of the GST and the increase in petrol (price),” he said at the House of Representatives today.
In the tabling of the last budget, Najib announced an increase in the BR1M from Rm650 to Rm950 for households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below.
Meanwhile, for households with an income of RM3,000 and RM4,000 a month, the BR1M will be increased from RM450 to Rm700.
Explaining further, Anwar said that the government should be serious in addressing the issue of 3.5 billion litres a year of diesel smuggling because it wastes almost Rm1.5 billion a year.
He said that the reduction in fuel subsidy should be able to save Rm9 billion a year, however the amount is far lower than the savings that can be acquired if leakages in expenditure can be stopped.
“If leakages in the expenditure of the federal government can be stopped, they will be able to save up to Rm18 billion a year.
“Clearly, the government continues to pressure the people due to administrative and management shortcomings on their part,” he said.
NS