Rafizi to table progressive salary policy tomorrow

SHAH ALAM - The progressive salary policy bill will be tabled by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli at the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) tomorrow, as an initial effort to increase the people's wages.

In a tweet today, Rafizi said if this effort was successfully implemented, the people's wages will continue to increase over the next five to ten years.

He emphasised that the policy will include all Malaysians, regardless of religion, race or political ideology.

"The latest data on wages in each state is of concern, with the median in nine states in Malaysia being RM2,000 or less.

"In Kelantan, this figure is only slightly higher than the minimum wage of RM1,500. Only Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Penang surpassed the overall median wage of RM2,600.

"This means that every state in the country has a lower median wage compared to the national average," he added.

It was previously reported that Rafizi expressed concern when the Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) Report for the first quarter of 2023 showed that a large portion of the population received low wages.

He pointed out that 82 per cent of the 6.46 million formal workers earned less than RM5,000 per month, with 35 per cent earning RM2,000 or less.

Rafizi explained that 50 per cent of the working population in Kelantan earned less than RM100 above the minimum wage.

"Half of the working population in Kuala Lumpur earns RM3,927 or less, which is insufficient to cover the rising cost of living.

This wage disparity will only widen the development gap," he said.