PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has given assurances to the civil servants that an increase in their salaries will be a priority when the country’s economy improves.Anwar stated that the funds allocated in the revised Budget 2023 are what the government can currently allocate.However, he acknowledged that the salaries of civil servants could be raised, including those of Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) personnel.“However, we know that the salary of civil servants generally can be increased, including that of Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) personnel.“But for that to happen, the country must be peaceful and attract more investments for the economy to pick up,” The Star reported the Tambun Fire and Rescue station as saying yesterday (March 10).
Anwar said the national debt is at RM1.5 tril and the government has to reduce its deficit to gain attention from investors.“People will not invest if the deficit is high,” he said.He also said that to achieve the reduction of the deficit and to improve the economy, the country must be peaceful and attract more investments.
“If we increase salaries, our budget deficit may rise to 6.5%—nobody will come and invest in our country because they will have no confidence that we have a strong political will to manage the country well,” Anwar said two weeks ago in response to Cuepacs’ reaction to the budget.However, Cuepacs president Datuk Adnan Mat begged to differ and said the government had shown no commitment to reevaluating the new public service remuneration system in order to increase salaries in Budget 2023.But Anwar urged Cuepacs to be patient, saying the government’s priority now was helping the poorer groups. — March 12, 2023
