– additional $400M one-off payment for frontline health workers
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has announced a seven per cent salary increase for all public servants retroactive to January 2021.
This declaration was made by Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, during a live broadcast on Thursday. He noted that this across-the-board increase would benefit all categories of public servants including teachers, members of the Disciplined Services, constitutional office holders, as well as Government pensioners.
Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh
“This increase will be granted retroactively to 1 January 2021, and work will start immediately to ensure that it is processed and paid to eligible employees together with their December salary and in time for the festive Christmas season,” Dr Singh disclosed.
Only last month, President Dr Irfaan Ali had reassured public servants that salary increases for them were imminent. That was a reiteration of an earlier commitment back in August when he had promised a retroactive salary increase for public servants before the end of this year.
Frontline workers
Meanwhile, Minister Singh, during the broadcast on Thursday, also announced an additional $400 million for frontline health workers, who have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Government has set aside an amount of $400 million for a special 2021 payout to be made to frontline workers in the health sector who have continued to face extenuating circumstances in the daily discharge of their duties, as our country and the world continue to battle the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he disclosed.
According to the Minister, the details of this payout will be announced shortly. However, he reassured that the payout will be made to eligible employees before the end of December 2021.
Meanwhile, the other announcement that was made by Dr Singh had to with inconsistencies regarding the salary scale across the public sector. He indicated that the Government was working to have this disparity resolved.
“Government has recognised the existence of a number of anomalies and disparities across positions within the public service salary scales, as a result of which there are marked inconsistencies across the pay received by persons holding similar qualifications, but occupying different posts depending on the agency in which they work, the post to which they are appointed, and the salary scale in which their post is classified,” the Finance Minister pointed out.
He added, “For example, a new graduate with a degree in environmental science might be earning $120,000 in one agency while a new graduate with an identical degree in environmental science might be earning $190,000 in another agency.”
Correcting salary inconsistencies
According to Minister Singh, steps will be taken next year to reduce these inconsistencies by making suitable adjustments to salaries in order to improve the parity and consistency with which persons with comparable qualifications are paid.
These changes, he noted, will be catered for in Budget 2022, for which preparations are already underway.
Nevertheless, Dr Singh stated that work would commence immediately to implement the measures he has announced.
Despite his commitment to salary increases, President Ali had previously explained that his Government had a holistic vision for public servants that was not just about pay hikes. He had said they also wanted to empower public servants and ensure that they became homeowners, among other things.
“We’re looking at the mechanism that will allow every public servant to own their own home… We want to empower public servants so that their children, too, can benefit from the scholarship programme. The public servants themselves are benefiting. And we are happy about this. So, let us not limit the discourse only to the tax waivers and [salary increases],” the Head of State had stated.
At the end of December 2020, public servants had benefited from a one-off $25,000 cash grant from the PPP/C Government. Approximately $2 billion was budgeted for that initiative, which was said to have benefited over 60,000 workers.
The beneficiaries of this grant include workers within Central Government, statutory bodies, subvention agencies, public corporations, teachers, medical workers, members of the Joint Services, Government pensioners and staff of the University of Guyana, to assist them with the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then in the 2021 Budget, some $10 billion was budgeted in the estimates under the heading, “Revision of Wages and Salaries” – a huge part of which the Government had said was for salary increases for public sector workers.
Further, another $7.8 billion in assistance was earmarked for households and farmers affected by the unprecedented May-June floods. This was coupled with a subsequent announcement in August of $2.6 billion of financial support for vulnerable groups as well as one month of free electricity for over 40,000 households consuming 75 kilowatts per month.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Budget in 2020 provided for $7 billion in COVID-19 relief cash grants to households across Guyana and $1.1 billion in year-end bonuses to some 19,000 front-line workers in the health sector and the Disciplined Services.
Those measures were complemented by the reversal of taxes on a slew of utilities and items, as well as the removal of Value-Added Tax on electricity, water, health care, education and even construction materials.
