Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says progress is being made to conclude discussions regarding the next phase of the public-sector compensation package.
He was responding to concerns raised by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Julian Robinson, regarding the reduction in the allocation for public-sector compensation in the Fourth Supplementary Estimates, tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (January 23).
“The compensation restructure, the first phase of it, is for the most part complete, with the exception of a few entities. Some of the matters that you’ve been referring to have to deal with the second phase to do with the restructuring of benefits and allowances,” he added.
Dr. Clarke further noted that “after dealing with the salaries and restructuring of salaries, the restructuring of benefits is now under discussion. So, we are making progress in the sense that we are now moving on to discuss items that we were not discussing in 2023”.
The Fourth Supplementary Estimates proposes a total expenditure of approximately $1.091 trillion, a reduction of $2.5 billion on the approved Budget, following the submission and approval of the Third Supplementary Estimates in September 2023.
The document also showed that compensation for employees remains flat at $404.2 billion, as compared with $404.5 billion.
“I wouldn’t characterise that as a reduction; it is more of a rounding in the context of a figure as large as $404 billion. What we have is a number of rebalancing across the system. The exercise is a very complicated and complex one, and you will have cases of some agencies overestimating and other agencies underestimating. The fact that the estimates is about the same is a good thing,” Dr. Clarke said.