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KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya does not intend to introduce a windfall tax, said Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng today at Dewan Rakyat.
Lim (PH-Bagan) noted that even under the previous government, no tax on windfall profits was proposed.
"But the government has already informed Bank Negara Malaysia that it was necessary to be lenient to allow those who buy affordable housing to obtain loans.
"That is why, in the 2019 budget, it is stated that the central bank will lead programs, including setting the interest rate at 3.5% and extending the loan term from five to 40 percent." years, "he told a question from Hasan Arifin (BN-Rompin).
Hasan had asked if the government intended to impose a 2% tax on the windfall profits, in case they would generate extraordinary profits, and then use it money to help the group of 40 poorest countries (B40) to secure themselves. loans.
Lim said that he personally thought that the central bank would be able to do more than what she had proposed.
"BNM believes that it is important to control household debt. They do not want it to be uncontrollable.
"The central bank believes that its measures are sufficient. Let's wait and see how effective the measures are.
"If the measures are not effective, I think the government will develop a policy that will make it easier for homebuyers to get loans," he said.
The secretary general of the DAP also told the lower house that in September, the ratio of household debt to GDP was 83.2%, against 83.8% at the end of last year.
According to Mr. Lim, a large part of household debt was spent on wealth creation, such as the purchase of property (52.8%), non-real estate purchases (6.8%) and property purchases. investments in savings funds (5.7%).
"Most borrowers have a prudent level of debt. The overall median debt service ratio for the accumulated funding is 32%.
"However, there is still a segment of borrowers whose financial situation is weak. Some 6.5% of borrowers have a negative financial margin and most of them earn less than RM 5,000 per month and have a DSR of more than 60%, "he said.
To a question from Mustapa Mohamed (PH-Jeli) on what would be the ideal percentage of debt relative to GDP, considering that many households had a strong asset base, Mr Lim said that it was obvious that BNM would like to reduce debt as much as possible.
From the government's point of view, Lim said, they needed to see borrowers' repayment capacity and pointed out that nonperforming loans were still weak.
"The department's position is that we can have enough space to provide more loans not just to first-time buyers, but also to merchants.
"The BNM is an independent body. They have the power to determine in order to be able to sustainably control the funds and finances of the banks.
"We hope that the measures (announced by BNM) will be effective and at the same time maintain the NPL at the current level," he added.
Earlier this month, Negara Bank announced the creation of a one billion RM fund to help people in the low-income group finance the purchase of their first home. He has also put in place some measures to help homebuyers.
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