SI Public Servants will get a 6% pay rise

Acting Minister of Finance, Hon Gordon Darcy Lilo, announced on Friday that the Government had approved wage increases for public servants and teachers. The wage increase is largely driven by increases in prices in the community over the last 12 months.

The Minister said: “Salaries are to be increased by 6 per cent. This will be backdated to 1 January 2006.

“In addition, there will be a lump sum payment, equivalent to 7 per cent of wages, for the period 1 January to 30 June 2006.”

When he made the announcement the Minister said that the decision represents a big cost to the Budget. The Minister said that the cost to the 2006 Budget is around SBD$13 million – around 2 per cent of domestic revenue of SBD$688 million.

“This adds to the 27 per cent of the Government’s 2006 Recurrent Budget that is spent on payrolls,” the Minister added.

Because it adds to the wages base, the decision also has a cost to the 2007 Budget, estimated at around SBD$8 million.

The Minister said that with each increase in public service pay there was less money to spend on delivering other services. While price movements were the main reason for the pay increase agreed yesterday the Minister noted that “the Government also expects its public servant to live up to their part of the bargain and show improvements in performance.”

The Minister said that the Government appreciated that it had many hard working and dedicated public servants. However, he also pointed to the concerns raised by the Minister for the Public Service, Hon Joses Sanga, about the poor work performance and attitudes of some public officers – especially in attendance and discipline.

Minister Lilo said: “There are many calls on the public purse. We have a duty to make sure we get the best value wherever we spend our money. The Government is looking forward to working constructively with public servants and with their unions to improve productivity in line with wage increases.”

Source: Government Communication Unit