File photo of Datuk Seri Najib Razak speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby in Kuala Lumpur July 26, 2018. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today questioned Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on why it took him three months before realising that the GST refunds trust account was missing RM18 billion.

“The question is why did it take three months before the Finance Minister realised that RM18 billion was not paid (to the GST Refund trust account) and now they say the government can’t pay the refunds because they have been ‘robbed’.

“RM18 billion is not a small amount. What I see is that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government did not expect the spike in GST refund claims the moment it was zero rated,” Najib said in a Facebook post.

“The three months GST tax exemption where the government had no revenue means the money inside the Consolidated Trust Fund (Kumpulan Wang Amanah Disatukan) that should have been channelled (into the refund account) could have been used for government expenditure,” Najib said.

He also pointed out that Sales and Services Tax collections will be lower compared to GST and the government may not have enough cash to cover the unpaid GST refunds.

Najib claimed that this will lead to investors losing confidence and a lowered national credit rating.