PETALING JAYA: Ahead of Budget 2023 on Friday, Cuepacs is urging the government to raise the wages of civil servants to help them cope with the rising cost of living.
Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said the current salaries are not reflective of the rising cost of living, especially when it comes to food, healthcare and housing.
“Cuepacs ia hoping for a new compensation system with a salary and wage model that can increase the people’s income to match the increase in the cost of living,” he said in a statement today.
He said the compensation system used by the civil service was not feasible under the current economic situation.
Adnan also said there was a need to solve the problem of home ownership among civil servants.
He said construction of affordable housing for civil servants had been halted by the government since 2018.
“This has made it difficult for civil servants to own their own homes and now they have to rely on quarters and rentals,” he said.
He said affordable housing should cost less than RM300,000, adding that houses in Putrajaya, where the federal government was based, cost RM400,000 upwards.
Adnan also called for the government to revise several allowances.
“A realignment of civil servants’ allowances would help reduce the impact of the increase in the cost of living and provide them with a comfortable purchasing power,” he said
He said Budget 2023 also needed to look at “things that were left behind” and were not fully implemented, such as the cash in lieu of accumulated leave (GCR) initiative, whereby many had still not been paid.
Budget 2023 will be tabled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, on Friday.