KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- The government needs to retain its current economic policies, especially with regards to tax, in order to provide a stable environment and create better sentiments for the global market, said RinggitPlus chief executive officer Liew Ooi Hann.

He said in deciding on whether to maintain the existing Sales and Services Tax (SST) or to reintroduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the government should first consider the stability of the tax system for the Malaysian economy as a whole.

"In this time of global economic turmoil, the stability of the tax policy is the key for Malaysia.

"What Malaysia needs to do is to tell the world that the country is open for business and that it has a stable tax policy that doesn't change here and there," he told reporters after revealing the findings of the RinggitPlus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey 2019 here today. 

Liew hoped the government would increase its tax relief for the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN) to RM10,000 in the upcoming 2020 Budget or maintain the current level.

In 2019, the government increased the tax relief for SSPN deposits by parents from RM6,000 to RM8,000 a year.

Meanwhile, on the findings of the survey, Liew said close to 70 per cent of Malaysians said they were in control of their finances.

However, an alarming 53 per cent of the 8,000 respondents admitted that they would not be able to survive for more than three months with their savings, he said.

Additionally, 89 per cent of the respondents said that their Employee Provident Fund savings were insufficient for retirement, and despite this fact, 34 per cent do not have a retirement plan.

-- BERNAMA