Gov't always strives to find way to raise people's income: PM Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is always finding for ways to raise the income of the people, especially the lower and middle-income groups in line with efforts to make Malaysia a high-income nation.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said the efforts of the government began to see results when the income of those in the B40 low-income group and M40 middle-income group increased significantly.
"In fact, the poverty rate continues to decline," said Najib in his latest posting in NajibRazak.com blog pertaining to the income of the people.
The B40 group refers to households with monthly income of below RM3,860 while M40 is households with monthly income of RM3,860 to RM8,319.
Najib said according to EPU or the Economic Planning Unit, the average income per household of the B40 group increased by 76% in 2014 since 2009 while for the M40 group, the average income per household rose nearly 60% during the same period.
Meanwhile, in terms of average income of workers in all sectors, he said a survey conducted by the Department of Statistics revealed that income rose by 20% in 2016 within three months previously.
"This is among the signs that the financial position of workers generally is improving," said Najib who is also Financial Minister.
The prime minister said although the increase was due to the success of government initiatives such as raising income in rural areas, minimum wage raise as well as various entrepreneurial programmes, the hard work, and enthusiasm of the people to improve their income was the biggest contributor.
"Hence, cultivate such a competitive spirit. Together we develop the country's economy because it cannot be done with one-side efforts," he added. — Bernama