HAVING too many civil servants will increase the government’s operating expenditure and reduce the financial allocation for development, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

He was replying to a question from Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau) who wanted to know the rationale for the proposal to reduce the number of civil servants.

Dr Mahathir said if there is no control over the existing 1.7 million civil servants, operating expenditure will take up a huge portion of the country’s annual budget.

“This will slow down economic growth due to the government’s inability to spend on development projects to generate multiplier effects on the country’s economic and social growth,” he said during the ministers’ question time in Dewan Rakyat.

Dr Mahathir added that the number of civil servants can be reduced without jeopardising the performance of service delivery, source of income of the officers involved and employment opportunities. – Bernama, March 12, 2019.