Premier Wu Den-yih said yesterday that the government is close to reaching a decision on giving all public sector employees a 3 percent pay raise, thanks to steady economic growth and increased tax revenue. And if approved by the Legislature, the pay adjustment plan may be implemented in as early as July.

Premier Wu Den-yih is attending a Corporate Social Responsibility forum and said that a pay increase for military, teachers, and civil servants may soon be finalized.

Wu also met with the leaders of listed companies, hoping to persuade them to match the government's raise.

Wu was confident that on Wednesday, first quarter tax revenue would be promising and would meet the requirements for increasing salaries.

As to whether the business community would follow suit, TSMC and the Formosa Plastics Group have publicly stated that they are preparing to raise salaries.

The head of the SME Association also said that 60% of SMEs were raising salaries.

The case of raising military, teachers and civil servant salaries has been criticized as being political in nature as opposition legislators criticize the Ma government of playing politics.

The Executive Yuan stressed that the salary for the military, teachers and government personnel will not include borrowing nor eliminate other budget items.

At the earliest a decision is expected to be finalized within one week.