KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 31): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expects Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow around 4% to 5% in 2023, in line with Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) projection earlier.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the government remains comfortable with Malaysia's performance in the fourth quarter of 2022 (4Q2022), as more positive changes were seen over the last few months.

“I hope we can sustain that,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday (Jan 30).

According to BNM’s website, the central bank will release 4Q2022 GDP data on Feb 10.

Meanwhile, Anwar believes a government with good governance and democratic accountability will be able to attract more investors.

“If you have a system with very clear policies to encourage investments, [along with] the ease of doing business, [and are] fast, efficient and not corrupted, investors will come in,” he said.

Asked if his administration would maintain the fiscal deficit at 5.5% of GDP in 2023, Anwar said the government would have to gradually reduce the deficit, but it should not be at the expense of public welfare, or the poor’s education and health.

“So, we have to navigate this very carefully,” he said, disclosing that the deficit target will be announced on Feb 24, when the revised Budget 2023 is tabled.

Nonetheless, Anwar said Malaysia is fortunate that revenue from taxes had increased slightly, along with taxes from petroleum and gas.

On the reimplementation of the goods and services tax (GST), Anwar has discounted the possibility of implementing the tax for now, due to the current income status of Malaysia.

“The GST remains the most transparent and efficient taxation system. The issue is when you have abject poverty, and when the people do not even get the minimum pay, how do you have a transparent taxation system?” he asked.

However, he did not rule out the reinstatement of the GST should the average income level in the country increase to RM3,000-RM4,000.

On Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) settlement, Anwar appealed to the leading global financial institution to settle the deal with Malaysia.

“My only appeal is for them to settle this deal with Malaysia, because 1MDB is known throughout the world.

“It is there in the books, and I think that Goldman Sachs should come out clean and deal with Malaysia. Don't think you can dismiss this as something small that you can just use your strength to dictate your terms,” he said.

Anwar also said he wants to see a more responsible response from Goldman Sachs, so that this can come to an end.

“I mean, this is a big institution. It has its strength, there are some positive issues with them, but there are also huge problems in the past, and I don't think I would want to venture into that,” he said.

Bloomberg reported that in 2020, Goldman Sachs admitted its role in the biggest foreign bribery case in US enforcement history, reaching multiple international settlements in billions of dollars to end probes into its fundraising for 1MDB.

It reported that the settlement announced in July 2020 called for Goldman Sachs to pay US$2.5 billion, while guaranteeing the return of US$1.4 billion of 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world, in exchange for Malaysia dropping charges against the bank.

It also reported that Goldman Sachs must also make a one-time interim payment of US$250 million if Malaysia had not received at least US$500 million in assets and proceeds by August 2022. 

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/653651