EDITORIAL: Rightsizing the public wage bill
The public wage bill, which is to be increased by a further N$1.7 billion following last week’s breakthrough in negotiations with relevant labour unions, has remained a hot topic in our country.
Cosmetic efforts were made to contain the bill, such as when then finance minister Calle Schlettwein embarked on so-called fiscal consolidation reforms, but the tally continued to skyrocket.
Hiring fewer people was one of government’s approaches to contain wages. The other plan was to offer below-inflation salary increases, after civil servants went years without an extra dollar in the kitty.
Amid all this confusion, what government has barely considered as tonic to this conundrum is growing the economy at a pace that outspeeds the wage bill. There is clearly little room left to manoeuvre, other than to embark on growth reforms.
Hiring fewer people, as Schlettwein suggested during his time at the Fiscus Building, has only exacerbated two things: Unemployment and poor service delivery.
When fewer teachers are recruited, thereby increasing the teacher-to-learner ratio to more than the prescribed 1:35, the delivery of education to the Namibian child is severely affected.
In the same breath, keeping people out of the job market in order to contain the bill – even when such people are actually needed in the public sector – means you are simply adding fuel to the raging unemployment fire.
Economic growth is the panacea to almost all our problems, including the bloated civil servant salary bill.
Cosmetic efforts were made to contain the bill, such as when then finance minister Calle Schlettwein embarked on so-called fiscal consolidation reforms, but the tally continued to skyrocket.
Hiring fewer people was one of government’s approaches to contain wages. The other plan was to offer below-inflation salary increases, after civil servants went years without an extra dollar in the kitty.
Amid all this confusion, what government has barely considered as tonic to this conundrum is growing the economy at a pace that outspeeds the wage bill. There is clearly little room left to manoeuvre, other than to embark on growth reforms.
Hiring fewer people, as Schlettwein suggested during his time at the Fiscus Building, has only exacerbated two things: Unemployment and poor service delivery.
When fewer teachers are recruited, thereby increasing the teacher-to-learner ratio to more than the prescribed 1:35, the delivery of education to the Namibian child is severely affected.
In the same breath, keeping people out of the job market in order to contain the bill – even when such people are actually needed in the public sector – means you are simply adding fuel to the raging unemployment fire.
Economic growth is the panacea to almost all our problems, including the bloated civil servant salary bill.
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