Image credit: Borneo Post Online
KUALA LUMPUR: Experts are positive on the promising growth despite global economic challenges which was reflected in the 2022 report on wages and salaries of Malaysians by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
However, they felt that more efforts were needed to safeguard the economic welfare of those who were earning their paychecks.
Putra Business School economic analyst, Associate Professor Dr Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said the improving trend was expected to continue throughout this year as the country's economy was still expanding with positive growth in every quarter.
"The fact that the unemployment rate is decreasing this year is also another testament of continuous demand for hiring workers and this will also contribute to a higher trend."
He said wages should be increased as the current national median salary does not compliment the national average of household expenditure.
"Wages should be increased higher because if we refer to the latest DOSM statistic, the national average of household expenditure is RM5,150.
"In fact in Selangor, the average household expenditure is RM6,770 and RM7,283 in Kuala Lumpur.
"With the current national median salary of RM2,424, if both husband and wife earn that amount, they will struggle to handle the cost of living in Selangor and KL," he said.
He added that currently, very few households have enough disposable income to do savings or investment and the majority were carrying huge debt.
This, he said, had caused the household debt to exceed RM1.13 trillion in 2021, which is more than that of the federal government's debt.
Meanwhile, economic analyst Associate Professor Dr Nuradli Rizwan Shah Mohd Dali lauded the increase in percentage of the median wage of workers in the country.
However, he said that Malaysia needed to achieve the status of a high income nation to ensure income earner's financial stability.
"It is a good increase that the median wage of workers has increased. But Malaysia has a long way to go.
"We should have US$13,200 per capita gross national income (GNI), however, at the moment we are at US$12,000 per capita of GNI. This equates to the median of RM5,000 a month," he said.
Earlier, DoSM chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement said based on the department's 'Statistics and Wages, Malaysia, 2022' report, the median monthly salary and wage reached RM2,424, compared to the previous year, which was recorded at RM2,250.
This increased by 7.7 per cent where it has also shown that 50 per cent of the full-time employed citizens receive salaries and wages of RM2,424 and below.
Meanwhile, the average monthly salary and wages received by Malaysians in 2022 increased by 5.8 per cent to RM3,212 from RM3,037 the previous year, signalling a steady improvement in the overall earnings of the Malaysian workforce.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/09/960396/experts-laud-increase-percentage-median-wage-workers