Tough times ahead as Treasury warns civil servants of more salary delays
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Treasury warns of more salary delays for civil servants amid a worsening economic situation in the country
Treasury warns of more salary delays for civil servants amid a worsening economic situation in the country.
In light of the nation’s deteriorating economic situation, civil servants have been advised to prepare for more salary delays.
Njuguna Ndung’u, Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, issued a dire warning about impending hardships, claiming that the government is in a “financial fix” and has no other place to turn for additional funding as thousands of government workers endure unprecedented delays in receiving their salary.
Proif Ndung’u revealed the financial limitations the national government is experiencing, stating that it is caught between underperforming revenues and restricted access to capital due to dwindling borrowing capacity.
The Treasury CS said the situation has seen several government programmes stall, including disbursement to the counties and investment projects with most of the funds going towards debt financing.
“The national government is caught between two extremes; high level of debt financing and financing constraints due to limited access to finance in the domestic and international financial market,” said Prof Ndung’u.
Treasury needs roughly Sh50 billion per month on average for government worker salaries and another Sh8 billion per month for pension payments.
The delays have had an impact on a number of employees working for ministries, departments, and organizations, with the majority taking their Easter holidays unpaid.
Except for teachers and members of the disciplined services, hundreds of thousands of employees of the government and parastatals were still unpaid.
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The crisis has been a long time coming, with reports indicating that, since the beginning of the year, civil servants, including parliamentarians and their staff, have been receiving their pay after the 30th day.
“We always receive our salaries on the 27th of every month but until today I have not seen anything,” said a KBC staff member. “Even in December where we are always paid on the 15th, we were paid between the 28 and 29th.”
While appearing before the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee late last month, National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo said the government is facing a financial crisis with the Kenya Revenue Authority having missed its latest revenue target by a whopping Sh67 billion.
The PS pointed out that the current cash crunch cannot allow Exchequer to settle outstanding debts. He explained that Treasury always prioritizes public debt repayment as well as statutory payments such as pensions, which form the first charge on the Consolidated Fund taking at least 65 percent of the revenue raised by the national government.
County government staff have been worst hit by the cash crunch.
Thousands of workers in at least 20 counties reported having gone without salaries for two months while others have yet to pay March salaries.
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