I was shocked to read the Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan’s reply in Parliament that a sales tax could be imposed on fuel purchase if the global crude oil prices fall below the current pump price.
According to Ahmad Maslan, the fuel tax is merely for collecting revenue while we record the highest ever budget for next year at RM 273.9 billion.
It is very unfair to burden the people for the government’s unrealistic estimation of the global crude oil prices and blatant wastage in the budget, while it is the government’s responsibility to make better use of our revenue from natural resources.
As of today, the Brent crude oil has already further declined to USD 82.72 per barrel; however, Budget 2015 actually assumes that crude oil prices next year will be maintained at about USD 105 per barrel, so the government would have enough revenue to support its vote-buying budget.
Furthermore, there are many hidden slush funds in the budget especially those allocated under the Prime Minister’s Department that might eventually turn out to be another wastage.
For instance, there are four particulars listed under the Prime Minister’s Department budget amounting to RM 5.08 billion which have no specific purpose stated in the budget. They are Projek Kecil (RM 0.3 billion), Projek Khas (RM 1.61 billion), Projek Mesra Rakyat (RM 0.67 billion) and Dana Fasilitasi (RM 2.5 billion).
It is a crystal clear fact that government should cut the expenses or make better use of it instead of imposing new tax on people for their unwisely spending.
I call upon the BN government to cut unnecessary expenses and wastage from the budget immediately, and not imposing fuel tax as it will further increase the burden of the rakyat especially the middle-lower income group.