KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says the government is expected to unveil new tax measures to help raise funds to pay off national debts that have snowballed due to corruption under the previous government.
Lim says it will take the government three years to resolve its fiscal woes due to more than 1 trillion ringgit ($240.5 billion) in debt and another 35 billion ringgit ($8.4 billion) in accumulated tax refunds owed to the people.
Lim told an economic forum Tuesday that "some pain" is expected during the fiscal consolidation. He didn't give details of the tax measures.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told the forum the fiscal problems had turned Malaysia from an Asian tiger into a "small kitten."
Mahathir led an alliance to a stunning electoral victory in May.
