The annual intake of 25,000 new civil servants to replace those who retire will be continued, said chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.

He said it was in line with government policy to maintain the 1.61 million civil servants to meet the needs of the 30 million people currently.

"Every year 25,000 civil servants retire and they need to be replaced with the same number through new recruitment," he commented on the circular the Treasury issued titled 'Garis Panduan Langkah-Langkah Mengoptimumkan Perbelanjaan Kerajaan'.

The circular mentioned among other things the freeze on recruiting new staff, tightening payment of overtime and cutting entertainment allowances of Ministers and Deputy Ministers by 10 per cent effective from the beginning of this month.

Speaking at a press conference after the ceremony to award diplomas in Public Administration (DPA) and fellowship by the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) here today, Ali explained that the new intake that was not justified was when there was a need to set up a new agency.

"We can set up but it becomes the responsibility of the PSD (Public Service Department) and the ministries to find staff by appointing them by 'redeployment' from existing staff whether from the ministry or other ministries.

"Maybe there are certain tasks of an agency that is out of date or its importance has diminished, that we should probably close or reduce the employees there and these are the people we need to place in posts in the new agency being established," he said.

Regarding the 10 percent cut on entertainment allowance, Ali said the matter was agreed in the last Cabinet meeting, and it was only for members of the administration, not the public service.

In the meantime, Ali said the government planned to appoint administrative and diplomatic officers (PTD) in their early 40s to the highest positions in the public administration such as deputy secretary-general, appointed on 'fast track', based upon the excellence of the service rendered .

Regarding the suspension of the seven-day basic courses per year for members of the public service, he said it was a government austerity measure and effective for this year alone.

During the ceremony, Economic Planning Unit's former director-general, Tan Sri Dr Sulaimam Mahbob, was announced as the 27th recipient of the Intan Fellow Award.