Pay rise is like having four months’ bonus

PUTRAJAYA: The recent pay increase for civil servants of between 7.5% and 35% actually translates into as much as four months’ worth of bonuses for them.

Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said this was because the Government had chosen to make the decision effective July 1, rather than include this in the Budget.

“If we calculate the increase in the salary they have enjoyed since then, this would have been equivalent to some four months’ worth of bonuses, particularly for those in the lower ranking group, and as much as two months’ bonuses for most civil servants.

“So, in approving the salary increase, we have already given huge funds to the civil servants.

“They have worked hard and they are always in the heart of the Government but the salary increase means an extra RM8bil in our operating expenditure,” he told reporters in the post-Budget briefing at his office here yesterday.

Nor Mohamed said the move not to announce bonus for civil servants in the Budget was proof that the Government intended to spend its funds responsibly.

“If there was one, then this would really have been an election bonus. The amount of funds we have is limited and we need to spend this in rural areas where there is so much demand for development.

“We also need to use these funds to obtain the maximum benefit,” he said, adding that the Government felt there were still many socio-economic issues to be resolved.

Nor Mohamed was commenting on the disappointment expressed by many civil servants that there was no announcement of bonus in the Budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Parliament on Friday.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government was not dismissing the possibility of paying bonus to civil servants at a later date.

Cuepacs president Omar Osman had said he would write a letter to Abdullah for bonus.

Nor Mohamed said that despite the civil servants’ disappointment, many of them understood the Government’s rationale.

On speculation that this year’s Budget would be an “election Budget”, with rumours of polls being not too far off, Nor Mohamed said in one aspect, this was true as the Government aimed to extend benefits to the rakyat in each budget that it tabled.

“It’s an election Budget every year,” he said.