KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The government has approved a special RM100 additional salary increase in 2023 for all Grade 11 till Grade 56 public workers at a cost of RM1.5 billion annually, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced.

In tabling Budget 2023 today, Tengku Zafrul example of a Grade 11 public employee with a salary of RM1,600 who was due to receive a RM80 annual increase in April, and said this person would now receive another RM100 monthly starting January.

"This makes his final salary in 2023 amount to RM1,780 and this salary remains, will be carried over to the next year.

"For next year, the government also agreed to provide a special financial assistance to 1.3 million civil servants who are of Grade 56 and below, amounting to RM700 and for one million government pensioners, amounting to RM350, with financial implications amounting to RM1.3 billion,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul announced that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has also agreed for the 2023 special Aidilfitri financial assistance be increased to RM600 and paid in March 2023.

"Together with the 2023 special additional salary increment of RM100 effective January 2023 and the special financial assistance of RM700, this makes the total additional increase for eligible civil servants, as much as RM 2,500,” he added.

In a statement later, the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) welcomed the initiatives and called for the increment to be channelled in a timely manner, sans bureaucracy

Its president Datuk Adnan Mat pointed to the early redemption of the Gantian Cuti Rehat or GCR scheme, lamenting that the allocation of each ministry and department to redeem GCR of 80 days this year, was found to be insufficient and has been used up, till many applications from civil servants could not be fulfilled.

"This situation is of course disappointing to the civil servants who were promised the initiative but could not get it. The government should distribute allocations for the redemption of GCR based on applications from time to time, instead of providing a specific amount of allocations that will not be increased if used up.

"In addition, all the initiatives announced for civil servants and the people need to be implemented even if there is a change in the government in the future," he added.