This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 13, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Any pay rise in the civil service should be matched by a rise in productivity, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, instead of buying loyalty to the government.

He was responding during Question Time in Parliament to Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau), who asked Dr Mahathir (PH-Langkawi) whether the government intends to revise the salaries of civil servants.

Dr Mahathir said the tendency of the previous government to increase pay in order to procure loyalty from civil servants had resulted in a higher operating expenditure.

“We also found that these pay rises for civil servants help drive up the cost of living. When the government increases their salaries, the private sector will follow suit, hence the costs of goods increase as well,” he said.

“The emphasis for raising pay should be on increasing productivity and not just bowing to pressure or based on policies to buy loyalty. Therefore, the government is putting in effort to increase the public sector’s productivity by improving work processes, automation and application of the latest technology,” he added.

Ismail also asked about the rationale for reducing the number of civil servants.

Dr Mahathir said the oversized civil service has been a concern as it constrains the government’s budget for development expenditure.

“The government is of the view that the size of the civil service can be reduced without affecting service quality and the civil servants’ incomes,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said reducing the number of civil servants does not mean fewer job opportunities, as it can be done via privatisation.

Citing Telekom Malaysia Bhd as an example, Dr Mahathir said the government reduced the number of civil servants by privatising the telecommunications business, which also reduced the financial burden on the government, while increasing productivity.