TAIPEI - A record number of Taiwanese businesses froze their salaries in 2008 as they were impacted by the effects of the global economic crisis, according to a government survey released Friday.

As many as 86.0 percent of the polled firms said they suspended wage increases last year, up from 76.3 percent in 2007, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement.

It marked the highest level since the government started such surveys in 1997.

The survey, covering nearly 9,600 companies, said about four percent of the firms cut wages last year, the highest level in six years.

"The survey reflected the impact of global financial crisis, which led to a worsening domestic economy in the second half of 2008," the directorate general said in the statement.

Last year, employees of only 10.9 percent of the businesses enjoyed wage hikes, the lowest level since 1997, the survey said.

Taiwan's economy contracted 7.54 percent in the second quarter, following a 10.13 percent fall recorded in the first quarter.