The National Association of Human Resources (Pusma) today said the current high cost of employing foreign domestic labour was due to charges set by agencies from source countries.

"The high cost is not from us... it's from (agencies on) the other side, and it depends on what they charge," said Siti Zarina Ismail, the president of the association which comprises over 100 domestic worker agencies nationwide, at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The press conference comes in light of the government's announcement in Budget 2018, that from Jan 1 next year, employers will be allowed to directly hire domestic workers without the use of agents...