Nairobi — President William Ruto has halted a Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) - recommended pay rise for public servants above the rank of Principal Secretaries demanding rationalization of earnings in the top cadres.

While issuing a directive on Friday, a day before the effective date of the SRC pay increase, President Ruto said he needed to be persuaded that top officials including himself needed a wage increment.

He however said public servants below the level of Principal Secretaries, including teachers, police officers, and military personnel, will receive a salary increase beginning July 1, 2023.

The salary adjustments, ranging between 7 and 10 percent, according to President Ruto were necessitated by the economic circumstances of the present times.

"We have agreed because of where we are today their salaries will be adjusted upwards," he said.

President Ruto asked the SRC to probe instances where officials in unnamed parastatals earned even more than the Head of State.

"I have instructed the SRC to give us international best practices because we need to reduce the gap between all of us who work for the people of Kenya," he said.

"We need to make sure that the gap between the person paid the least and that paid the most is not too big because we are all workers," Ruto explained.

President Ruto emphasized on balancing recurrent and development expenditures amidst the impending high inflation.