Fairer, more reasonable wage scheme for civil servants to be expedited - PM

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today stressed that the implementation of a fairer and more reasonable wage scheme for civil servants will be expedited.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said his Unity Government could not implement a new salary scheme last year due to the country's financial situation and the high level of inherited debt.

"So, (this year) we have decided to expedite the implementation of a fairer and more reasonable wage scheme for civil servants, and you must believe this.

"We could not do it last year because we inherited a (bad) financial situation with a national debt that was still at RM1.5 trillion and a fiscal deficit of 5.6 per cent," he said when launching the Central Database Hub (PADU), a system containing individual and household profiles encompassing citizens and permanent residents in Malaysia, here today.

On July 14, the government agreed to review the civil service salary scheme, taking into account the increase in the cost of living and the fact that there has been no salary review since 2012.

Following this, a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform was held on Aug 7 to discuss the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA) as a civil service reform initiative.

-- BERNAMA