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Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has directed ministries to allocate money for salary increases in 2022.
According to a circular by CS Yatani to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), Treasury allowed an increase in salaries for civil servants at the cost of hiring new staff.
“To ensure the wage bill remains within the medium-term targets, sector working groups should not allocate resources for new recruitment, interns, casuals or upgrading unless there is prior approval from the National Treasury.
“MDAs should however provide adequate resources to cater for movement from one salary scale to another,” the circular read.
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Treasury CS Ukur Yattani moments before he stepped out to table Kenya's 2020/2021 budget at Parliament
Treasury has already begun preparing the national budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
CS Yatani will launch the 2022/23 and Medium-Term Budget preparation process on Thursday, August 5 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The government had in June, halted salary increments citing a non-performing economy due to Covid-19.
The Salaries and Remunerations Commission said a 2-year halt in pay increase would save the country Sh82 billion.
The IMF had also announced that Kenya had committed to keeping civil service pay unchanged after the Fund’s board approved a new Sh250 billion loan.
“This will be accomplished through continued restraint in hiring and wage awards, including in the four-year wage agreement that will come into effect in 2021/22 financial year and by improved wage bill management,” disclosed the IMF.
However, the rise in the cost of living has eroded public servants’ purchasing power.
According to a recent report by Business Daily, civil workers haven't received a raise since 2017 and have relied on generous allowances to boost their take-home pay, but SRC intends to reduce the benefits.
Former KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion recently commented that stagnation in the same job group has resulted in many public servants, including teachers, police officers and health practitioners, attaining the maximum salary within the job group.