The increase in salaries to government workers and increases in pensions to old-age persons which represents an additional $13 billion in disposable income injected into Guyana’s economy is only part of Government’s approach to improving the lives of Guyanese.
In a release yesterday, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said that over 54,000 public servants, teachers, members of the disciplined services, and government pensioners, have received their 2023 increases representing payment of the 6.5 per cent retroactive salary increase which was announced by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, on December 10.
The release noted that Dr Singh took time to thank the MoF staff and finance departments of the various government agencies and ministries who worked “tirelessly and diligently” to ensure that the increases were paid out to eligible persons, together with the retroactive amounts, in time for the Christmas season. It was disclosed that MoF also ensured that the 12,000 members of the Disciplined Services along with civilian employees of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) who for the first time, received the one-month tax-free bonus.
Further, in addition to the 6.5 per cent salary increase received, as part of a $5 billion cost-of-living allocation, government also paid out a $25,000 one-off tax-free cash-grant to public sector employees, a one-off $35,000 cash grant to persons with disabilities receiving public assistance, while old-age pensioners also benefitted from the $25,000 one-off cash grant. These payments amounted to over $13 billion to all of the above categories of persons.
Singh stressed the importance of persons receiving these payments before Christmas, which will stimulate economic activity across the country and explained,
“… an injection of this nature has tremendous positive multiplier effects in the economy because it generates the consumption that it stimulates at the household level, then feeds into the retail trade, and that then feeds into the wholesale trade, and that then feeds into production.”
Mention was made of the salary adjustments received by members of the disciplined services and health workers in January 2023, in tune with announcements made by President Ali on November 24 and December 12, 2022 respectively. Some 5,000 health sector workers had their salaries adjusted to the tune of $1.5 billion while an estimated 8,000 members of the disciplined services had salary adjustments which increased their disposable incomes by over $1 billion annually.
The release also announced salary adjustments and other emoluments for 2023, for teachers as follows: 1) All graduate teachers – holders of a relevant Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Guyana, a degree-awarding institution under the GOAL Programme, or a Degree certified by the National Accreditation Council – shall be moved to the maximum of the scale applicable to the post they currently occupy. This will benefit over 4,000 teachers at an additional annual cost of $1 billion, effective from December 1. 2) Teachers who hold a bachelor’s degree will receive an education allowance of $10,000 monthly; those with master’s degrees will receive $20,000 monthly, and holders of a doctoral degree will get an allowance of $30,000 monthly.
It was noted that any preexisting allowances paid in relation to the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (DipEd) will remain in place.
Some 4,500 teachers are expected to benefit from this revision
The Remote Areas Incentive will be adjusted upwards from its current level to $20,000 monthly, effective December 1, to the benefit of over 2,400 teachers.
Meanwhile, all teachers who hold a substantive appointment as a Senior Master/Mistress/Head of Department or above and are within 3 years of retirement and have not previously received a duty-free concession on a motor car, shall be entitled to one duty-free concession for one motor car up to 1500cc.
Dr Singh pointed out that other than salary increases, government’s approach to improving the lives of Guyanese involves improvements and upgrades to essential services under the numerous policies and plans the administration has been administering. These include the reviving of the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant for school children, pensioners’ water subsidy, removal of taxes on various commodities, as well as the resumption of the one-month tax-free bonus for the disciplined services.
“When you speak about disposable income, you have to speak first of all about adjustment to salaries…We have also adjusted upwards a number of specific categories of public sector employees. Some as high as 50, 60 and 70 per cent. We have recently announced the cash grant of $25,000 to every single public servant.”
The release posited that the implementation of these measures including government’s housing initiatives has enhanced the lives of Guyanese all across the country including public servants who are among the nearly 30,000 individuals who have benefitted. In addition, it reminded that public servants have also benefitted from the reduced interest rates at various commercial banks to assist persons in constructing their homes at affordable costs.
“We take a holistic and comprehensive view of well-being. We look at the things everybody wants. They want to earn a better income of course. And so, our aspiration is to make sure that people are able to earn a better income over time. But people also want other things, other aspects of well-being. Like being able to live in a community that has decent roads, being able to access good quality healthcare, having your elderly parents be able to access a decent pension,” the Senior Minister declared.
