Definition of Public Sector

Generally, public sector is a component in economy that consists of various entities that is control by nation or government. In Malaysia, the public sector embodies the related government ministries, agencies and departments, including the statutory bodies. The key role of public sector is to support the government’s aspirations. First of all, the objective of existence of government or public sector organizations aimed to strive for achieving public accountability and to having a conducive financial control system in fulfilling the legislative requirement. Besides that, public sector organizations aimed to provide basic requirements in the form of public goods and services that act as basic requirement of the citizen and society at large. This includes all public services such as public defense, internal security, diplomacy, legislation, health, education at all levels. Moreover, public sector organizations aimed to achieve economic, social and accountability obligations towards citizen that in the first place acts as elector, tax payer or fund provider to government. Furthermore, public sector organizations aimed to provide goods and services that must be controlled by government such as public utilities (e.g. electricity, water, telephone) which are catered for through government agencies and Government Linked Companies (GLCs). In many circumstances, government agencies involved in trust activity where the government act as trustee that play role as agent in keeping and managing the public money.

Characteristics

The public sector has distinct features as compared to its counterpart, the private sector. The public sector has numerous institutional stakeholders. Examples of public sector’s stakeholders are the parliament, Auditor General, Cabinet and the general public. The public sector operates within a framework of public authorization and control. This means all public sector organizations have to comply with all rules and regulations set by the higher authorities. These rules and regulations determine how a public sector organization should operate and be authorized in carrying out its objectives.