Kenya: SRC Says Public Wage Bill Down By 4.9pc in Last 6 Years

29 August 2024
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Phidel Kizito

Nairobi — The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has revealed a significant reduction in the public wage bill over the past six years, marking a 4.9 percent decline to 46.6 percent of the total ordinary revenue in the 2022/2023 financial year.

According to the SRC, this figure is expected to decrease further to 39.2 percent in the upcoming 2023/2024 fiscal year.

SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich expressed optimism about the positive trend while acknowledging the need for continued efforts to maintain the progress.

"SRC is proud of the remarkable achievements made over the six-year period, leading to a progressive drop in the total public wage bill to total ordinary revenue ratio from 51.54 percent in FY 2017/2018 to 47.06 percent in FY 2021/2022, and projected to decline further to 39.22 percent in FY 2023/2024. As SRC focuses on the future, more effort is required to address the challenges related to the size and trajectory of the wage bill," Meng'ich stated.

Despite the reduction in the wage bill as a percentage of revenue, the public service wage bill has seen an upward trend in absolute terms, increasing from Sh785 billion in FY 2017/2018 to Sh1.035 trillion in FY 2021/2022.

This figure is projected to rise further to Sh1.17 trillion in FY 2023/2024.

The growth is primarily attributed to the expansion of the workforce in critical sectors such as education, health, and security, as well as adjustments in remuneration and benefits to address the rising cost of living and attract necessary skills.

The SRC has outlined several initiatives aimed at managing the wage bill, including streamlining allowances in the public service, harmonizing remuneration and benefits structures, reviewing and harmonizing pension benefits, and investing in a central analytical tool to monitor the payroll.

This tool is intended to enhance accountability, curb excessive and unauthorized payments, and ultimately reduce the wage bill.

"On the contrary, high levels of the public wage bill are a threat to sustainable public expenditure and lead to crowding out resources that would otherwise be used for development priorities and provision of social services."

SRC has in recent times scaled up its efforts to trim the country's wage bill.

Earlier, it had suggested the need to address the overlap of roles in government and state corporations to reduce Kenya's wage bill.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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