Rafizi: We can’t fix cost of living issues without progressive wage policy

 

It’s not possible for the government to tackle the rising cost of living without first introducing a progressive wage policy, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

“The other part about cost of living is this, all the time, we always talk about what we can do about prices but there’s the elephant in the room, which is wages,” he asserted.

Rafizi was speaking at a forum titled “Hard Talk: The Economy - On Track or Sidetracked?” at the International Malaysia Law Conference held at Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.

“We are presenting to the government the policy paper for a progressive wage model in early August.

“And it’s the most unpopular thing I have undertaken in my job as a minister,” he said in jest.

After the forum, Rafizi told reporters that the current government is the first to express commitment to implement a policy on progressive salaries.

“We need a responsible framework and government resources as well as the cooperation and acceptance from employers on this. This is how we can better solve the cost of living issues.

“In August, we will discuss the policy and then we will look at the mechanism, we need to discuss with employers and labour unions,” he added.

Long-term effects

Rafizi said it’s important for the people to understand the long-term effects of subsidies provided and the government’s capacity to sustain such subsidies in order to reduce the surge in the cost of living.

“They don’t realise that if there are too much of subsidy elements, it has two effects. First, we divert money from the government just to control the price of goods but this has reached a level where we can no longer afford it.

“What we have is a policy that is too controlling. We need to move on from this subsidy phase.”

In June, Rafizi said the policy paper on Progressive Wage Policy will be tabled at the National Economic Action Council in August.

He was reported as saying that the policy developed by his ministry and the Human Resources Ministry is aimed at ensuring the growth of the people's wages which is more inclusive and driven towards a generation of better income.

Rafizi also said focusing on the growth of people's wages will be the main theme in the country's economic planning under the upcoming Malaysia Plan, apart from helping to deal with people's living costs.