Revenue availability to determine public sector pay hikes: Koskei » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 15 — The government has vowed sustained focus to public wage bill reduction efforts in a bid to attain the 35 per cent wage bill-to-revenue ratio constitutional threshold.

Head of Public Service Felix Koske Monday said the State will not consider any salary, wage, or allowance increment for civil servants in efforts to tame the nation’s wage bill.

Speaking at the Third National Wagebill Conference in Nairobi, the public service chief said the government is keen to attain the target by 2028.

“Any negotiations for improved salaries, wages, and allowances must be cognizant of the economic growth projections and trends,” he said.

“We cannot have systems where employers take actions on terms and conditions of employment without having a conversation with those charged with revenue generation and collection,” Koskei explained.

He noted that a high public wage bill threatens sustainable public expenditure resulting in large fiscal deficits and public debt with inadequate investments in the nation’s development.

Effective public service

Koskei said the government’s tax collection efforts are geared towards boosting the country’s burdened economy for effective service delivery.

“This conference comes against the backdrop of growing agitation for better management of public resources when the government is grappling with how best to navigate the balance of ensuring economic growth sustainability and affordability of the wage bill with effective service delivery,” he said.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), convener of the 3-day wage bill conference, is working towards reducing the country’s wage bill, which currently stands at 47 per cent, to the legal requirement of 35 per cent.

During the second wage bill conference held in 2019, the commission developed and adopted various frameworks including productivity measurement that sought to streamline allowances in the public sector as measures to tame the nation’s wage bill.

In the 2021/22 Financial Year, the wage bill-to-revenue ratio dropped to 47.04 per cent from 51.4 per cent in the 2017/18 Financial Year.

The 2019 framework required public institutions from both the National and county governments to develop strategies and action plans to achieve the 35 percent wage bill-to-revenue ratio.

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