Activist: Rather than giving RM1.3b to civil servants in Budget, money should be spent on social needs

PETALING JAYA: The government’s decision to dish out cash to civil servants has raised questions about its priorities.

The move has been described as “misplaced”, “strange” and politically motivated.

Social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said civil servants have worked hard and deserve “some kind of payment”, but not as much as the RM1.3 billion allocated by the government.

“This is certainly misplaced.”

Lee said some of the money should have been diverted to help people who have been economically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“By giving less to civil servants, it would mean more money is available to those hit hardest by the pandemic, especially the B40 group,” he said.

Unlike the hundreds of thousands in the private sector, no civil servant has experienced a pay cut or job loss.

“I’m not saying that civil servants should not get anything, but it should be a smaller amount. The government should know where its priorities are, especially when it comes to the rakyat.”

Lee said having to borrow up to RM100 billion just to meet Budget 2022 obligations “is frightening”.

“The future generation will be saddled with the debt.”

The government’s revenue is expected to amount to only RM234 billion next year, against an expected spending of RM332.1 billion under Budget 2022.

When tabling the Budget for debate last Friday, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said a total of 1.3 million civil servants in Grade 56 and below will receive a one-off financial aid of RM700 in appreciation of their efforts in discharging their duties during the pandemic. Pensioners will also receive RM350 each.

Universiti Utara Malaysia professor of economics Dr K. Kuperan Viswanathan said the economy badly needs an impetus and a RM1.3 billion cash injection would be a boost.

“Most of the money would likely be spent on consumption, which is a good thing right now. There has been no real growth in the economy and this payout would go a long way in increasing consumption spending,” he told theSun.

He said this is being done because at the moment, there seems to be no other source of growth. “Nonetheless, it is a bit strange. Considering that 30% of the Budget must be financed with loans, why is the government borrowing money just to give it away?”

He also expressed concern about the government’s ability to repay the loan, adding that most of the money allocated for the Budget would be spent on paying bills rather than on development.

“Development is what we need to boost economic growth in the long term.”

He urged the government to start reducing the budget deficit as “nothing has been done for the last 20 years to repay government debt”.

“The only thing we have seen is continuous growth of the budget deficit.”

Universiti Tun Abdul Razak economist Dr Barjoyai Bardai believes the payout is the government’s attempt at showing appreciation to those at the frontline of the Covid war.

“Unfortunately, the government cannot discriminate so it has to give it to all civil servants,” he said, adding that it was “essentially an election Budget”.

“Instead of making the payout to civil servants, the money should have been used for social spending, which would benefit the people and the economy.

“We only allocate about 3.5% of our gross domestic product (GDP) for social spending whereas in countries such as Japan, social spending accounts for 20% of GDP,” he said.

Barjoyai pointed out that money used for social spending would bring long term benefits to the people.

“The government needs to address the issue of unemployment because its figures are not accurate. It estimates some 900,000 people are unemployed but the actual figure is much higher because not everyone comes under the system,” he added.