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CORRECTED: Malaysia's civil servants get pay rise of up to 35 percent+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, May 21_(Kyodo) _ Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Monday a pay rise of up to 35 percent for the country's s slightly more than 1 million civil servants beginning July 1. The salary revision, the first in 15 years, is seen by many political watchers as a sign that a general election is around the corner although not due until early 2009. Speaking at a Workers Day gathering of some 5,000 government servants in Putrajaya, the federal administrative capital, Abdullah also announced a 100 percent increment in the cost of living allowance, an announcement greeted with loud cheers of "Long Live Pak Lah." Pak Lah or "Uncle Lah" is the nickname of Abdullah, who also serves as finance minister and internal security minister in charge of the police. The police and army personnel, he said, will get a slightly higher increment of between 9 percent and 42 percent. "I am sure this pay revision will help reduce the burden faced by the public sector worker, especially those who are in the lower income groups," Abdullah said in his speech. "At the same time I wish to remind all civil servants that with this pay increase the government's and the people's expectations of the public sector will increase," he added. The salary increment is split into four tiers, 7.5 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, with the lowest-paid staff earning a monthly base salary of 480 ringgit (about $141) receiving the highest increase. Abdullah said the pay rise will cost the government 6.8 billion ringgit a year. The increase in the cost of living allowance will add another 1.2 billion ringgit to the government's annual expenses. He said the main factor prompting the move was the strong performance of the economy, which has been growing at an average of 5.6 percent over the past five years. Through prudent fiscal spending, the government has also managed to lower its deficit from 5.3 percent in 2003 to 3.5 percent this year, he added. Other factors were the rising cost of living as a result of the increase in oil prices. The salary revision has been widely expected. Earlier this month, Abdullah had already told the civil servants they "deserve" a raise. Opposition leader Lim Guan Eng of the Democratic Action Party remarked that this "clearly indicates an early general election, possibly by the end of this year." While saying that the increment was justified, Lim had also called on the government to trim the public sector. "Malaysia's 1.2 million civil servants are amongst the highest in the world in relation to population. Based on the present population of 26.5 million, the civil service to population ratio is 4.5 percent," he said. Copyright 2007 Kyodo News International, Inc. |