With the rising cost of living becoming an ever more ubiquitous concern amongst the average Malaysian, the government has mooted an index to measure the cost of living more accurately as to assist employers in determining the appropriate salary increase.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, speaking at the launch of the government’s new guide “Belanjawanku – Panduan Perbelanjaan untuk Individu dan Keluarga di Malaysia”, said that the Consumer Price Index did not reflect the situation accurately as it did not take into account factors like business production cost.

EPF chief executive officer Tunku Alizakri Alias echoed the Finance Minister’s comments, adding that the contribution of 12 per cent and 11 per cent by employers and employees respectively was the fifth highest in the world, and the concern should be making sure workers had more money in their pockets as raising the percentage of contribution would likely impact both employees and employers.