PUTRAJAYA (May 21): Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today it was meaningless for the people to have a high income but no purchasing power.

"In this country, we find there is an effort to be a high-income nation, but high income without the ability to make more purchases has no meaning at all.

"If we raise wages but, at the same time, the prices of goods increase greatly, the additional money will not allow us to buy more than before. So, the increase in income will not have any effect.

"The increase in income will not have any positive impact on the country," he said in his inaugural address to the staff of the Prime Minister's Department after being sworn in as the seventh prime minister on May 10.

Also present at the event were the Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, and Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Zainal Rahim Seman. -- BERNAMA