Government instructs recovery of state employees' loans amidst pandemic

COLOMBO (News1st): The public administration ministry has instructed state authorities to recover loan installments and interest payments of state sector employees, through their salaries from June. Loans obtained by all "tertiary", "senior-level", or "staff grade" employees, will be recovered by deducting them from salaries, according to the circular dated June 10, seen by News 1st. Accordingly, the directive issued on March 26 to suspend the recovery of these payments, "shall not be applicable anymore", public administration secretary J.J. Rathnasiri said in the circular. The circular, titled "Providing Relief to public officers considering the situation arisen due to COVID-19", has been issued "with the concurrence of the general treasury". Critics have accused the government of recovering payments from the public, whose livelihoods have been affected due to the coronavirus pandemic.