7% salary increase for public servants; $400 million pay for health workers

A seven percent increase in wages and salaries for all categories of public servants has been announced by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr Ashni Singh.

The increase, which is expected by the end of December, will be paid to public servants, teachers members of the disciplined services, constitutional officeholders, and government pensioners, Dr Singh said in a special announcement.

Additionally, $400million has been set aside for a special 2021 payout to be made to frontline workers in the health sector who, Dr Singh said, “continue to face extenuating circumstances in the daily discharge of their duties as the country and the world continue to battle the ravages of the COVID19 pandemic. The details will be released shortly but the payout will be made by the end of December 2021.”

The senior minister with responsibility for finance said the government has also recognized there are disparities in pay across positions in the public service to the extent that persons with similar degrees have been paid differently according to the agencies they work with, or the various salary schools to which their post is classified.

As such, the minister said, the government will work to reduce the inconsistencies by making adjustments to salaries in order to reduce the pay gap. This is expected for budget 2022.

Dr Singh plugged that since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government assumed office, work commenced improving the lives and circumstances of Guyanese. The finance minister said the focus has been on improving economic and social conditions and quality of social services, as well as restoring the business climate and restructuring the budget to re-orient public spending to programmes with the greatest possible impact.

Recollecting a few measures that the Dr Irfaan Ali-led government has, so far, implemented, Dr Singh recalled the COVID19 cash grant of $25000 per household which resulted in $7.5 billion distributed to families across all ten regions. Over the last year, billions of dollars have been funneled through the government to households in order to improve the overall quality of living during the pandemic.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.