President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged business leaders to consider a pay raise for their employees if their companies were doing well.
He said that after the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, businesses nationwide were given strong support by the government and banks so that they could stay afloat.
During the crisis period, the government cut interest rates seven times, the president said at a function at a club for businesspeople in Greater Taichung.
HELP FOR BUSINESS
The government also fully guaranteed bank deposits, while the banks decided not to restrict the availability of credit to businesses as long as the interest was being paid regularly, he said.
“The businesses had the full support of the banking sector, which enabled enterprises to retain their employees via unpaid leave and prevented the unemployment rate from spiraling,” Ma said.
However, the nation’s economy grew 10.82 percent last year and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.64 percent in January, but salaries on average were only slightly higher than before the financial crisis, he said.
NOW POSSIBLE
“There is room for a pay raise,” Ma said, adding that higher salaries would help stimulate consumption and economic growth.
Ma said the nation’s economic recovery must be in tune with its distinctive features, which he described as a “high increase of employment and enhanced public interest.”
The number of workers on unpaid leave was more than 230,000 at the peak of the financial crisis, while unemployment hit a record high of 6.13 percent in August 2009, according to government statistics.
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