KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli today agreed that the country needs to create high and equal salaries while lowering costs of living by implementing programmes such as Menu Rahmah.
The Menu Rahmah initiative offers balanced, cooked meals for only RM5 at selected food outlets.
Around 12,000 premises have already offered Menu Rahmah, including restaurants affiliated with the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas), the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma), Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors General Association (MCSPGA), and Mydin supermarket outlets nationwide.
“We have to address both the costs of living, but we also are looking at wages,” said Rafizi when asked by reporters about economic experts calling Menu Rahmah a “band-aid” for high costs of living and low wages.
He added that the country is seeking to become a high-income nation in the next few years by crossing the gross national income (GNI) threshold of USD 15,205 (RM57,050) while seeking to have a more equal income distribution.
Since achieving the middle-income nation status in 1985, Malaysia’s economic growth has lagged behind other nations and fallen into the “middle-income trap”, a notion used to describe countries that are unable to catch up with higher-income nations.
“We are at around US$13,000 plus, so if the growth rate is at about four to five per cent for the next three to five years. The high-income nation status is actually within the horizon.
“What we want to make sure is we don’t hit the status by per capita instead ensure the inequality gap is taken care of,” he said, adding that the government is looking into policy to calibrate equal wage growth among different income groups.
Rafizi said other government initiatives such as moving to a digital economy, upskilling, and reskilling are all aimed at creating high-income jobs.
“We are also exploring whether there are other policy tools that can help to expedite (the growth of high-income jobs),” said Rafizi.
