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Ministry panned over rises

By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 04, 2008, Page 12

“We all know that people are having difficulty making ends meet, but ministry officials show no compassion for the people. ”

Hsieh Kuo-liang, KMT caucus acting Secretary-General

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lashed out at the Ministry of Finance yesterday over its proposal to double the salaries of the chairmen and presidents at state-run enterprises.

“We all know that people are having difficulty making ends meet, but ministry officials show no compassion for the people,” KMT caucus acting Secretary-General Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) told a press conference.

“As the caucus of the ruling party-to-be, we cannot accept such a proposal,” he said.

Hsieh’s remarks came after KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) criticized the ministry’s plan during the legislature’s Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday. The Cabinet had approved a raise from NT$160,000 (US$5,260) to NT$300,000 on Monday, she said.

Acting Finance Minister Lee Ruey-tsang (李瑞倉) yesterday confirmed the plan, but said that it would be impossible to implement the raise before the new government assumed office on May 20.

Lee said the new government could still adjust the salaries if it found the plan inappropriate.

The ministry also said it would establish a committee composed of five to seven experts and academics to draw up a pay formula based on each state-run corporation’s performance and size.

The ministry would then determine the pay of presidents and general managers of state-run companies in accordance with the formula and their contributions to their firm.

Hsieh said yesterday that the caucus supported making adjustments to the pay of state-run enterprise heads, but that the KMT still believed the government should show sympathy for the public amid soaring commodity prices.

“Although the ministry claimed that it was trying to recruit new talent [to state-run enterprises by giving the raise], we all know that the current state-run enterprise heads are close to the Democratic Progressive Party,” Hsieh said, warning the ministry not to finalize the pay adjustments before May 20.
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