Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has reiterated the government’s stance that the GST rate will remain at six percent.

"I give my assurance the government has no plans to hike the GST rate," Najib said today.

He also repeated that at six percent, Malaysia's GST rate was among the lowest in the world.

Critics have claimed that the implementation of GST has increased cost of living for the public, especially the lower income group.

Najib was speaking at the 36th International Customs Day celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

The prime minister stated that implementation of GST also kept the country's economy stable.

"Without GST, who knows, we could be in an economic recession," he said.

Najib added that the GST also ensured that the government could give civil servants their special payment bonuses. 

The special payment, announced in Budget 2018, will be disbursed twice – RM1,000 at the beginning of January and RM500 before Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Najib said GST collection for last year was RM44 billion, while the estimate for 2018 could be RM45 billion.