At his monthly meeting with staff of the Prime Minister’s Department here today, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said he had received complaints from private sector workers claiming that their wages had not increased even though their employers had reported strong earnings.

“I request the private sector to (review their wages) because some (employees) have complained that (their) companies make RM400 million a year in profit, but their wages remain stagnant.

“So, I hope that this signal given by the government to recognise civil servants is also taken up by the private sector, especially those who report good profits.

“Provide a reasonable wage increase in the current circumstances,” he said.

He was referring to the government’s decision to review the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA) and provide an incentive of RM2,000 to civil servants in Grade 56 and below, as announced in the 2024 budget last Friday.

Anwar acknowledged that his announcement regarding the incentive came as a surprise to even the highest levels of civil service, including chief secretary to the government Zuki Ali.

“No one considered this possible given the current financial constraints of the government, and even the finance ministry did not propose such an amount,” he said.

“I think in the broader context, there has not been a review like this in 10 years.”

He hoped the review would be carried out thoroughly and would consider the views of all departments and sectors.

He also said he wanted the review to be completed by the middle of next year so there would be “significant announcements in the 2025 budget”.

“We will pay closer attention to this because it’s unreasonable to expect high performance and high productivity when wages don’t increase,” he said.

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