KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar reportedly said it is crucial for the government to reform the civil servants’ pension scheme to cut operating expenditure.

In an interview with The Edge published today, the former Rembau MP suggested that new hires, including politicians, should be covered under the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) instead of the current pension scheme.

"I told Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim this when I met him at the Ministry of Finance. I said that every day that you delay pension reform, you are adding to the pension bill.

"You cannot touch people who are already government officers because you can’t change the (existing) contract. But for new hires into the government for permanent staff, no more pension, including politicians,” he was quoted as saying.

Civil service emoluments including the pension and gratuities bill currently account for nearly half of the federal government’s annual revenue.

Currently, the government’s operating expenditure takes up 99 per cent of the public revenue.