Public servants to tighten belts amidst payment cuts
View(s):The Government plans to save over Rs.40 billion from the budgetary allocation of ministries by further pruning recurrent expenditure for public sector employees by way of cutting additional payments of state employees numbering over 1.5 million.
Annual expenditure for these employees serving in 1251 state entities is around 44 percent of the public sector revenue, Finance Ministry statistics indicated.
As an initial step of saving additional overhead expenditure, all ministry secretaries and heads of state institutions will be directed to cut overtime and consolidated allowances of employees in institutions coming under their purview, a senior Finance Ministry official said.
The government is spending around Rs 1.2 trillion annually to pay public sector salaries and pensions and the expenditure for overtime and consolidated allowances is over Rs.40 billion.
The ministries and state institutions have now been deviating from traditional practices and procedure in office work reducing the work load and expediting day to day duties.
Therefore cutting overtime and advances of state officials will not affect the daily functions of state entities other than essential services as a large number of employees are working from home, he disclosed.
Employees in essential services are being assigned for shift duties and the overtime could be paid during unavoidable situations, he added.
The payments for bills, fuel allowance for high officials, stationery petty cash and other daily expenses are to be curtailed to maximum possible level by thoroughly reviewing such requisitions.
Sri Lanka’s public sector cadre has been increased by 61,000 persons to 1.52 million persons in 2020 from 1.46 million a year earlier.