Tuesday 21 October 2008

Why you should want the inflation to be up

It’s the time of the year again. I am talking about year-end salary revision and (hopefully) bonuses.

If I could get our beloved finance minister to do one thing, that would be for him to publish an accurate inflation rate. Why? The answer is very simple.

A lot of big corporations out there rely on inflationary statistics to adjust the salary of its employees. I happen to work in one of such corporations. So the maths is very simple, the higher the published inflation rate, the higher the salary revision will be.

I understand the inflation rate for the month of Aug 2008 was 8.4% and it is expected that the figure for Sept 2008 would be around 8.2%. Regardless of the argument that calculation of consumer price index in our country is not entirely accurate, around 8% will do just fine.

There have been arguments late last year and our CPI can be as high as 20%+. Well, with the basket of goods used to calculate the CPI being mostly controlled items, one will tend to agree.

Regardless of whether the figure published is high or low, we cannot deny the fact that things have gone more expensive. As such, I am really hoping that the published CPI will remain high for my salary sake. And if you are in the same boat as me, you should pray hard about it too. And for others, maybe you’re in the same boat as me… you just don’t know it.

Related article:
Don’t bother about inflation?

7 comments:

myop101 said...

oh oh.... i remember about that... haha... all the best for you k...:)

Anonymous said...

I am in the same boat as you. For 2008, our 'increment' inclusive of inflation rate adjustment came to about 3.5%. This is real peanuts when things have gone sky rocketing high. I am waiting to see what the management comes up with for 2009 salary adjustment.

iamthewitch said...

But my company doesn't adjust based on the inflation rate. *sigh* Can't really hope for much in these poor conditions...

Anonymous said...

I crossed over the causeway last week by bus. The ezlink-card showed an increase of 2cents from 69. Alas, 3% after much brouhaha and announcements made on radio, tv, daily papers and reminders posted in the bus and bus shelters.
Met an elderly lady who uttered her shock and disbelieve when her money was refused. The usual fare of RM1.30 has gone up to RM1.70 and it's only a 6 bus-stop ride.
The 31% increased in fare has very much saddened and worry her. The coming bus ride will leave a very big hole in the already tattered pocket.

Huei said...

sigh..new job..no experience..already "high pay" for a freshee

looks like there'll be no good news for me anyhow >.<

whoalse said...

Companies will make adjustments due to external factors eg the Financial Crisis, difficulty in obtaining funds (which is happening now by asking international subsidiaries to bring in cash to HQ), etc.

So, instead of getting 8% pay rise, most will be more than happy to have their jobs!

Retrenchments by banks, manufacturers, tech cos are pretty much expected!

**zewt - latest news is that there is a possibility to cut 1/4 of migration quota here.....lucky you!! ;)

zewt said...

myop101 - hoping for the best! hehe.

KGC - me too.. cant wait.

iamthewitch - well, we still need accurate stats... right?

ummieabiworld - listen... listen... did u hear it? our govt says... we will not be in a recession.

huei - well, hope the best for me lor.

whoalse - i heard retrenchment is already happening in aust. as for me... may not move so fast... bad bad bad timing.