Lim said he hoped that the federal opposition will not 'sabotage' the national economic policy. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 ― The Malaysian economy will be in a deficit if the Barisan Nasional-controlled (BN) Senate blocks the Sales and Services Tax (SST) Bill from being passed, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng warned today.

He also said he hoped that the federal Opposition will not “sabotage” the national economic policy, and said that any such move would be against the democratic mandate given by the people.

“Will senate be ordered to stop the repeal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST),” Lim asked during his winding up speech for the motion of thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Dewan Rakyat here.

“If [SST] is not implemented by September we will be in deficit from the current account,” he added.

Lim said should the BN-dominated Upper House throw out the Bill, it would appear as an attempt to sabotage and cause the failure to the country’s economic programme.

“Let us respect the choice of the people, they have chosen, and they should give us the authority and policy room to implement the programmes that would not only benefit the people, but also their economic wellbeing,” he said.

However, Lim denied the country would spiral into a financial crisis should the SST be implemented after September 1.

“I won’t use the word financial crisis, but I think this will of course [affect the economy].

“This (SST) will maintain the confidence from the foreign markets, and they know; if they still want to sabotage, that would be something very malicious,” he added, referring to the Opposition.

The GST is currently zero-rated, and the Customs Department said it will automatically migrate companies that have registered under the GST regime to the SST beginning tomorrow.