Govt moves on targeted subsidies focuses on national interests, says Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR: The government's moves to implement targeted subsidies and review the civil service salary scheme are based on the principle of prioritising the interests of the people and the nation, says Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said these steps are also aimed at ensuring better fiscal positions and reducing the financial burden on the country.

"There is a need for us to emphasise that any government decision will not be 'worse than it was'. For example, in the issue of diesel subsidies, where RM2 billion worth of fuel disappeared without a trace. Diesel should have been made available to the people but was sold to foreigners.

"We need to be more precise in giving subsidies ... just like electricity where everyone benefits except the T20 group, and justice puts things in their rightful place," he said.

He said this during a Q&A session at the Current Issues Briefing Programme on ‘Fiscal Position and Government Measures to Address National Financial Issues" in the federal capital on Tuesday (April 23).

In addition, he said the government is now actively looking into the need for a new civil service salary scheme because the review should have been done 10 years ago.

"There is a need for us to examine salary discussions (for civil servants), and it should have happened 10 years ago... a lot of decisions need to be made, and we leave it to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) to handle. If we don't change direction, the future will be bleak," he said.

On April 19, Anwar, through a Facebook post, said the government would announce proposals for improvements, including efforts to increase the net income rate of civil servants, at the upcoming Labour Day gathering. - Bernama