Saturday, June 11, 2022

Raise export duties on ‘hot ticket’ items, says Najib



Raise export duties on ‘hot ticket’ items, says Najib


The agriculture, petroleum and manufacturing sectors are experiencing a high demand currently, says Najib Razak.


PETALING JAYA: Export duties should be increased on all hot ticket items in demand overseas to offset rising fuel and food subsidy costs, says former prime minister Najib Razak.

He said the higher taxes should be imposed on products from the agriculture, petroleum and manufacturing sectors as these were experiencing a high demand overseas currently.


“These duties can then be used to offset rapidly rising fuel and food prices or channelled as aid to those in need,” he said in a Facebook post.

Najib also called for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to improve on the ringgit’s weak position by insisting that exporters convert their revenue to ringgit and not keep their funds offshore in foreign currency.

“Bank Negara should actively intervene and buy the ringgit through its foreign reserves, which stands at US$113 billion now,” he said.

Najib said while the goods and services tax (GST) cannot be reintroduced when inflation is up, efforts must be made to ensure the fuel cost remains affordable.

He said if the government was left with no choice but to remove fuel subsidies, it should be done gradually, adding that it should not exceed 10 sen at any one time.

On the chicken shortage, Najib said price controls alone would not be able to address the problem, especially when the ceiling prices are too low compared with the actual cost of production.

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