Active interest: Anwar mingling with business people in Kepala Batas. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
PM: Civil servant and fresh grad salaries being looked into
BUTTERWORTH: The low salaries of young graduates and the salary scheme for civil servants will be discussed next week, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali has scheduled a meeting to review the salary and allowance scheme for civil servants.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, will chair the meeting.
“In general, the allowance rate and salary scheme of civil servants are low; this includes the police as well as the military.
“Traditionally, we used to review the salary scheme every 10 years. However, it has been 12 years since we convened a meeting. These will all be included (during the meeting) and, subject to our financial capabilities, we will try to increase it in stages,” he told reporters after officiating at the 16th National Economic Conference here yesterday.
He was also asked to comment on the statement by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, who said a large number of skilled workers are being paid low wages, including young graduates who were earning less than the minimum wage of RM1,500.
Rafizi noted that the minimum wage of RM1,500 was set as a benchmark for unskilled workers, which should lead to higher pay for fresh graduates and young professionals.
“However, statistics show that wages for skilled workers are being dragged down because the minimum wage has been used as a guide for fresh graduates and skilled workers.
“This requires an immediate policy so that we can rectify the problem,” he said after the launch of the Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) Report for the first quarter of 2023 by the Statistics Department.
Meanwhile, earlier in his keynote address at the conference, the Prime Minister also welcomed any feedback, input or criticism from all groups of society for the upcoming Budget 2024.
“I do not have any problems (with criticisms). Don’t worry if there are academicians who provide different views. I want us to work together as a team so that there will be a clear synergy between institutions of higher learning and the government,” he said.
Anwar said that his instruction was clear: he wanted participation from higher learning institutions to ensure a better pool of ideas and proposals.
“This has not fully happened. I want reports from all institutions of higher learning on their niche areas. There needs to be synergy,” he said.
As Finance Minister, Anwar said it was his job to bring the economy back on track.
“In order to ensure that, we need clear direction and expertise. And if we can expedite that, we can drive the economy and achieve our aim of 6% growth in a short period of time,” he added.
