Ranil Clarifies Public Sector Salary Increases

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Independent presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe has addressed concerns regarding the recent public sector salary increases, following reports from election monitoring organizations that the cabinet had not approved such hikes.

Wickremesinghe clarified, "It should be noted that the cabinet has indeed made a decision regarding salary increases. The role of election observers in this matter is unclear, and questions may arise about whether their involvement is independent or politically motivated."

He explained that in 2022, financial constraints limited expenditures, causing the GDP to fall to USD 76 billion. However, it rose to USD 84 billion in 2023. With the funds received, including support from the World Bank, the priority was to provide “Aswesuma” to low-income earners.

"Our GDP has continued to improve this year, leading to an initial allowance of Rs. 5,000 for government employees in January. By March, we observed that the economy was performing better than anticipated, allowing us to increase the allowance to Rs. 10,000. By 2025, we anticipate having sufficient funds to fully implement the recommendations from Udaya R. Seneviratne’s report," Wickremesinghe added.