Malaysia to strengthen tax base to raise gov't revenue: PM

Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said here on Tuesday that the Malaysian government was looking at ways to strengthen the tax base to raise government revenues.

He made this remark after Bank Negara Malaysia, the country's central bank, briefed him on the recent economic development and measures needed to be taken to increase competency.

He said that the Malaysian government had been offering various incentives that to some extent, affected the country's revenue.

While Najib had announced to pump a total of 67 billion ringgit (19.14 billion U.S. dollars) into the country's economy, he said spending extra money could not be maintained for an indefinite period.

On the other hand, Najib has been scheduled to table the country's 2010 budget on October 23.

Commenting on budget consolidation, Najib said the Malaysian government would provide more targeted subsidies to those who deserve.

He also said that operating expenses would be reduced but the government's performance would not be affected.

He declined to reveal if the Malaysian government was going to implement goods and service tax, whose implementation had been put on hold for years.