State salaries outpace tax gain up to April 2021
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s state salaries and pensions had outpaced the gain in tax during the first four months of 2021, official data show, as public sector workers ask to lift the ongoing coronavirus lockdown fearing salary cuts and tax-generating output is reduced is productive sectors.
In the four months to April 2021, tax revenues rose by Rs 18.7 billion from a year ago to Rs 427.26 billion, data from the Finance Ministry shows. But the salary and pension bill rose by Rs 27.7 billion to Rs 361.3 billion, easily outpacing the increase in tax collections.
Salaries and pensions ate up 84.6% of tax revenues, leaving little else for other activities.
Sri Lanka’ State worker cadre was raised by 61,000 persons to 1.52 million persons in 2020 from 1.46 million a year earlier, despite the additional tax burden on the private sector and self-employed to generate taxes to pay their salaries and pensions.
Pensions are generally given to state workers who have put in three decades of service, but the elected ruling class and their close relatives (sometimes wife or children) are given a lifetime pension after 5 years.
The elected ruling class who get tax free vehicles, bloat the State sector primarily by absorbing unemployed graduates who engage in hunger strikes in front of the main railway station in the capital demanding lifetime jobs and pensions in the State sector at the expense of society.
-economynext.com