FORMER prime minister Najib Razak today defended his statement that income inequality widened under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

Najib had earlier cited Statistics Department data to show there was an increase in Malaysia’s Gini coefficient during the short-lived administration.

The Gini index is a measure of the distribution of income across a population. A higher Gini index indicates greater inequality, with high-income individuals receiving much larger percentages of the total income of the population.

“As you can see, Malaysia’s Gini coefficient experienced its sharpest drop in history during my time as prime minister, from 44.1 to 39.9,” he said.

The statement, which was made during his recent debate with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, attracted criticism from several parties.

Some alleged he had made a false claim given that the World Bank’s data extended only till 2015.

Najib, however, responded by pointing out that the department did provide data up till 2019.

“I don’t make false claims or fake news,” he wrote on Facebook.

He claimed that B40 and M40 household income grew higher than T20 households during his administration as a result of policies introduced then, as well as expansion of numerous employment and small business programmes.

Another highlighted point was the introduction of the goods and services tax which, said Najib, was progressive as wealthier people were forced to pay higher taxes for the consumption of non-exempted items. This contributed to the positive growth of B40 and M40 household incomes.

“Income equality improved at its fastest pace during this time, lifting millions of Malaysians out of hardcore poverty,” he said.

“But it went up again in 2019 when many of these policies were reversed by the PH government.” – May 31, 2022.