COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka will offer hefty salary increases and higher pensions to civil servants, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said yesterday just weeks before a poll in which he is seeking re-election.
Wickremesinghe is seeking a mandate in September’s presidential polls for his efforts to repair the island nation’s ruined finances after an unprecedented 2022 economic crisis and USD46 billion foreign debt default.
Despite hiking taxes and reining in public spending, in line with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue plan, his administration has backed a government committee’s recommendation to boost public sector pay from next January.
“Regardless of which government is in power, there is a pressing need to increase the salaries of public servants,” his office said in a statement.
The committee recommended increasing salaries by 25 to 50 per cent, boosting pensions and expanding healthcare benefits for government workers.
“The proposals have received approval from both the Cabinet and the treasury,” the statement said.
