Kuala Lampur, May 5 -- When former prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a pay package increase between 7.5 per cent to 35 per cent for more than one million civil servants on May 21, 2007, he said that the strong growth of the country's Gross Domestic Product over the past five years, averaging 5.6 per cent annually, was the first factor considered by the government in determining the quantum of the pay hike.

Growth in the private sector investment and the external trade volume had also surpassed the RM1 trillion mark.

"All these have allowed interest rates, inflation, and unemployment to remain low. The Bursa Malaysia Composite Index also reflects the country's tremendous economic growth, reaching its highest level...