President and Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed the Secretary to the Treasury and Finance Ministry to look into the possibilities of giving a salary increment to the public servants from the next Budget, said the Advisor to the President (Trade Union Affairs) Saman Rathnapriya.

Speaking to the media yesterday (27), Rathnapriya said that the President has paid his personal attention to the matter and that he (President) also informed it to the professionals’ trade unions when he met them recently. He added that the Government has understood how difficult it is for public servants to survive in the midst of this economic problem, and is therefore making every possible effort to give them relief in the next Budget. Speaking further, he said that the Government is taking measures to address the issues faced not only by the public servants but also by people serving in the private and semi-Government sectors who have lost their jobs during the crisis. “In order to recover the falling economy, the Government had to impose new taxes. As a result of that, a new Pay As You Earn tax was imposed on public servants. We know that everyone has to make sacrifices. But, the Government and the President have never given up on the working class people in this country. When the President met professionals recently, he told them that he would take measures to give a salary increment,” he said.

He also said that President Wickremesinghe had instructed the Treasury Secretary to submit a report looking into the possibilities of giving a salary increment to the public servants from the next Budget once the first review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded yesterday.