PAKW Should Be Used As Vital Reference For Value Of Household Income Adequacy -- Akmal Nasrullah
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- The Basic Expenditure of Decent Living (PAKW) should be utilised as an important reference in assessing the adequacy of household income and designing more targeted economic interventions, particularly to address differences in the cost of living according to location and family composition.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said PAKW estimates the expenses required by households to achieve a decent standard of living, taking into account location as well as the size and composition of the household.
"It is not a minimum wage rate, and cannot be used as a uniform wage rate for all workers. Instead, PAKW helps us assess income adequacy and differences in cost of living pressures between families and areas.
"When salary and productivity data are combined with PAKW, the government can see more clearly the gap between income and living needs, thus formulating more accurate interventions," he said at the National Statistics Day opening ceremony here today.
Akmal Nasrullah's speech was read by his deputy Datuk Seri Mohd Shahar Abdullah.
Akmal Nasrullah said the Malaysia Salary and Wages Survey Report 2025, published in September, was also an important reference for assessing the development and salary gap according to skills, occupations and sectors.
"This income, together with productivity indicators and PAKW, allows the government to assess the effectiveness of income policies more comprehensively, including the changes felt by workers and the ability of enterprises to increase value added.
"This is the basis of the labour market reforms in the 13th Malaysia Plan, namely increasing the value of work, improving the match of skills and jobs, and ensuring that productivity gains are translated into workers' incomes," he said.
Akmal Nasrullah said raising the salary floor alone was not enough, but rather an assessment must be made of the risk of wage compression when the difference in rewards between new workers and more skilled or experienced workers is narrowing.
He said the assessment must take into account the skills structure, productivity and capabilities of employers, especially the capacity gap between micro, small and medium enterprises and large companies.
“The goal is not just a better starting salary, but reasonable salary progression throughout the career," he said.
Akmal Nasrullah said the success of policies should be judged by the changes experienced by the people, not just the allocation or number of recipients.
He said high-value investments do not necessarily produce high income if local workers and suppliers cannot participate in the value chain.
“Therefore, investment statistics need to be read together with employment data, wages, skills, productivity and enterprise capacity.
“For the Economy Ministry, the goal of development planning is to open up opportunities for the people to improve their lives. Progress is not only reflected in Gross Domestic Product.
“For a family, progress means sufficient income, good education, quality jobs and some savings in case of emergencies," he said.
-- BERNAMA