KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 ― Malaysians are grappling with living costs because the government was not spending enough to develop the country, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed today.
In his weekly policy address on Facebook, he asserted that corporate tax collections were now three times what they had been when he was prime minister.
He added that some local banks now booked RM7 billion in profits when they previously earned RM300 million at the most.
Despite rising corporate revenues and taxes, the former prime minister claimed that there was now less development in the country.
“With tax collections so high, we should have three times as much development, but the disbursement of funds is not done well and is instead used for things like paying off people to support their agenda.
“This abuse of funds is why we are facing problems with high costs of living, unemployment and high business costs,” he said.
He claimed that hundreds of thousands of Malaysians were unemployed, although it is not clear where he obtained the figure. Malaysia is currently at full employment.
Commenting on rising foreign investments in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir claimed that these were not the type that would benefit Malaysians.
“Typically, a good foreign investment brings in the technology and plants and we supply them with manpower which provides jobs for our people. But if the foreign investment means they build their own cities, with their own people, then there is nothing in it for us,” he said.
