The cost of GST outweighs against "little help" BR1M according to Survey

Puratrajaya’s annual cash aid handouts have done little to cushion the blow of the recently introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST), as Malaysians lament the increasing difficulty in keeping up with the rising cost of living here, a recent survey has found.

The iMoney National Budget 2016 Sentiment survey by online financial comparison website iMoney found that 93 per cent of respondents who qualified for the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) aid said the amount is not enough to help them cope.

“The overwhelming responses that we have received all point to one main theme: Malaysians are seriously struggling with the rising cost of living, and they are of the opinion that the main driver for the skyrocketing cost is the Goods and Services Tax (GST),” iMoney co-founder and group chief executive Lee Ching Wei said in a statement today.

The survey, conducted between October 5 to 15, also recorded 65 per cent of the over 2,000 respondents polled saying that GST – which came into effect in April this year – had “severely affected” their finances and blamed the alleged poor execution of the value-added tax regime for the rising cost of living.

A total of 80 per cent of the respondents want Putrajaya to reduce the GST rate, which currently stands at 6 per cent, while over half of those polled want a return of subsidies in lieu of BR1M handouts, the survey added.

And even with cooling measures implemented by the federal government and Bank Negara Malaysia to slow the rise of property prices, 92 per cent of respondents say they are still unable to own a home.

The survey found that 42 per cent of the respondents said they can only afford houses costing RM160,000 or an average repayment of RM850 a month, placing the government’s PR1MA homes scheme in the Klang Valley out of reach as they would cost over RM200,000 each.

“The rakyat believe that more aid is required to help them finally own a home. The most popular suggestions are to lower the interest rates (38 per cent), criteria of home financing (20 per cent), and tax relief (18 per cent) on home loan interest rates,” the survey said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday said that Budget 2016 will have provisions for the bottom 40 per cent (B40) households to enjoy affordable houses, higher income, wealth acquisition and quality of life, on top of access to higher education and skills training.

In a posting on his blog, Najib said Budget 2016, which will be tabled on October 23, will pay attention to the plight of the B40 households as they are the most vulnerable to fluctuations caused by the current global economic malaise.