SL will soon need to cut down number of state sector employees: Senior presidential advisor

Sri Lanka will not be able to afford a large public sector in the near future and will soon need to start reducing the number of state employees, a senior advisor to the president said yesterday.

Projecting that the Treasury would be unable to sustain the current expenditure levels in the coming years, Senior Presidential Advisor Duminda Hulangamuwa said that the country would have to downsize its public sector workforce from its current 1.3 million employee base to 750,000 employees.

“I can tell you that as we move forward, the funds available in the Treasury will not be enough in the coming years. We can’t afford to have a large public sector. So, we need to rationalise public services, cut down the numbers and move towards digitalisation,” Hulangamuwa said at the BETA Annual Report and Accounts (BARA) Awards of the Association of Public Finance Accountants of Sri Lanka (APFASL), held at the BMICH yesterday.

“We will need to reduce the 1.3 million employees to at least 750,000 and pay the remaining staff competitive salaries for efficiency. We will also need to begin digitising these services and make sure the taxpayers’ funds are used effectively,” he added.

Hulangamuwa went on to opine that the public opinion about the inefficiency in public service institutions has both a fair and unfair side, as inadequate salaries also contribute to poor performance in public sector service delivery.

He stressed that the state sector employees, particularly those involved in finance, should explore how public assets can be monetised to improve the overall institutional performances.

“Government servants have the liberty to identify inefficient services and remove layers of red tape to see how they can be avoided and rationalised. We are not saying we should privatise. We are saying to generate more profits and serve the public with better efficient services,” he stated.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in October announced that the government plans to raise the public sector salaries in the 2025 budget. (NR)