It isn't unusual for the government to freeze hiring of new staff for public services, as it had done in the past, Mohd Sidek Hassan, the former chief secretary to the government said today.

During his tenure between 2006 to 2012, he said the government also had to resort to suspending the recruitment of new civil servants.

"There were times when there was a need to do it," he said, when asked if such a thing occurred during his tenure as the top civil servant.

He, however, refused to divulge the reasons behind the decision.

"I am sure they (the government) had a reason to do it to which I am not privy," he said.

Sidek ( photo ) was commenting on the recent announcement by the government stop the hiring of new staff at 15 public agencies with effect from April 22.

Whistleblower website Sarawak Report, which published the stop-hiring notice to the government agencies, had suggested that the new directive was because the government had run out of funds.

The Public Services Commission (PSC), however, said that “critical” government positions were still open to applicants.

At 1.4 million civil servants, which forms about 10 percent of the labour force, Malaysia has among the highest civil servants-to-population ratio in the world.

Since taking the reins in 2009, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been struggling to reduce the country’s debts, weighed down by the ever-increasing cost of running the government.