The Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa has given the assurance that civil servants will ensure allocations channeled via Budget 2018 are fully utilised for the people and country.

He said the civil service would give their full commitment to implement Budget 2018 promptly based on the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) to enable the people to continue to enjoy and derive benefits as announced by the government.

"The Malaysian civil service will stand firmly with the government based on the principle of wala' and loyalty to realise national development aspirations and assure the wellbeing of the people," he said in a statement distributed at Parliament.

Ali also expressed the gratitude and appreciation of the civil service to the government on the provision of incentives and improvements in the civil service such as the second time-based promotion for the supporting staff, flexible hours for medical specialists and a new working hour.

Apart from that, civil servants would also be given unrecorded leaves for umrah as well as raising the lowest pension to RM1,000 for those who had served at least 25 years.

"We are grateful to the government for the special one-off payment of RM1,500 to civil servants in which RM1,000 will be paid in January 2018 and RM500 during Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

"Pensioners will also enjoy RM750 whereby RM500 will be paid in January 2018 and the balance during Hari Raya," he said.

-- BERNAMA