By: Jankey Touray
According to the revised budget approved by the National Assembly on Thursday 28 July, civil servants are said to have a salary increase of 30%.
However, the approved 30% salary upsurge appears to elevate high-income earners over low-income earners.
On the amended budget, no increment or deduction was made for the National Assembly, National Audit Office, Judiciary, and the Independent Electoral Commission. Pensioners were also excluded.
The budget reveals that the President, his ministers and other senior government officials will earn high pay as against low earners between grades 1 and 8.
The President’s salary will have an increase of D76, 500, and cabinet ministers D15,000 while civil servants from grades 1 to 8 will have an increase of D750 for those receiving D2500; D900 for D3000 earners; D3000 for D10,000 earners; and D6000 for D12,000 earners.
Seedy Keita, Minister of Finance, disclosed that the 30% salary increase is to develop a revenue of 222.5 million in the survival of the remaining six months of the year.
He said government agreed to cut expenditure across MDAs to subsidize salary increment.
The Minister added that both domestic and global economies have commenced recovering from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2022, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict which he said brought about a surprising change in global economic conditions.
He stressed that the occurrence causes poor performance of domestic resources mobilization, affects oil-related taxes as well as putting increasing pressure on governance spending needs. He also cited the creation of additional two ministries and the decision of the government to increase the salary of civil servants which necessitated the revision of the approved 2022 budget to adapt the changes.
